Six Degrees Ch. 02

"The Coroner's reports states that the perps were drugged, amped up." I said. "Similar patterns to previous hired hitters."

"What I don't understand, and would like to be enlightened upon," said the DepDirector in a prim voice, "is why attack Tanya Perlman. Why her?"

"Not her, not directly." I said. "Her son. Pete Feeley's son. The Consultant was trying to kill the baby."

"And the steps that lead you to this conclusion?" asked the DepDirector, his eyes boring into me. He seemed pretty peeved at something, I could feel.

I turned to Cindy. "Want a shot at the title?" I asked.

"I'm not seeing it." said Cindy. "It's your party."

I said "First of all, Feeley's badge was stolen from my office, and was left at the crime scene. A piece of paper was left in my office in the badge's place." I showed them a copy of the paper, with 'hampered' struck through. I also brought them up to speed on the previous notes and the progression of the strike-throughs.

"You'll also note the word 'Troilus' scrawled beneath the other words." I said. "Troilus was the young son of King Priam of Troy in the Trojan War. Legend was that he had to be killed for Troy to fall. So the plan was to kill baby Pete Feeley as a prelude to the fall of Troy... that being me." I heard gasps as the mythology lesson was absorbed.

"Third was the kidnapping attempt when the house raid didn't kill baby Pete." I said. "That was Plan B, somewhat desperate, and it failed as well. But it shows me that baby Pete is the real target, though I'm sure the bastard was happy to cause me and everyone else pain by killing Pamela Feeley and especially Tanya Perlman."

"Last, but not least," I said, "they did not administer a head shot to Tanya to finish her off. I don't know if they knew if she was alive or not, but if they'd specifically wanted her dead, they'd have made sure. They didn't; ergo, she wasn't the primary target."

"Damn." said Jack, quietly. He was hurting, I could tell.

"So you are right, sir." I said to the DepDirector. "I am getting close to the son of a bitch. Shutting down Vauxhall and its threads, and especially City & Counties Bank, has hurt him, and he has retaliated in this fashion. He missed the primary target, Pete Feeley's child, but he's killed and maimed everyone else along the way."

"And while we're distracted," said Sandra Speer, "he'll be setting up new financial pipelines to launder his considerable hidden wealth."

"So we need to be looking for more pots of gold at the end of rainbows." said Lindy Linares.

"At least you have the Mouseketeers helping you." I replied. Lindy smiled. I had to explain to some of the others about Myron, Mary, and David.

"So, besides financial institutions, he could launder through property ownership." Jack Muscone said.

"Or through a large public University." Cindy replied, with considerable meaning in her voice. I nodded her way.

"Either way," I said, "he has had, and will continue to have to go national with the kinds of money we're talking about. City & Counties Bank was just one of those institutions. I'm sure he has more, but they're likely out of State. And that's why we, meaning the TCPD, need your help at the Federal level."

"You've got it." said the DepDirector. "Jack, this is your team's priority for right now, as if I have to say it. Let's help the Iron Crowbar take this bastard down."

"Yes sir." said Jack Muscone, his beady black eyes turning jet, dead to all but Justice...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"It's not just him, it's a huge organization that he's built." said Cindy as we drove back to Headquarters. "That's why just killing him doesn't work. If you do, they just come after him in wave after wave... after wave after wave."

"Yep." I said. "I have to weave my larger web around his web, then spring upon him at the right time."

We pulled into Headquarters. As we walked inside, Cindy said "Commander, I want to stay in direct control of MCD for the time being, at least until we know more about Tanya's status."

"Sure." I said. "But you need to think seriously about a succession plan."

"That's easy. It'll be Nash." Cindy said as we walked down the hall towards her office. To her surprise I followed her inside.

"Why Nash?" I said, once the door was closed behind us.

"He's the only one anywhere near ready, sir." Cindy said. She sat down behind her desk as I sat down on the loveseat sofa. "Joanne has tremendous potential, but she hasn't even been to Detective School nor Advanced Course yet. She's just not experienced enough yet. Ditto that for Teddy. So that leaves Washington, Torres and people in Vice. Purvis might could take over, but I don't think any of the others, including Theo and Diana, are good enough to actually take the leadership role in MCD. At least not yet."

I nodded. "Well, I'm going to have good thoughts about Tanya returning. I agree with you about Nash, but I'm surprised you haven't figured out why we need a Plan 'C'. And here is my Plan 'C'."

I told Cindy what Plan 'C' was. She nodded, and I could tell she was trying to figure out why I needed to think past Martin Nash in the first place.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

No sooner did I reach my office and sit down, when Helena told me I had two guests to see me. One of them was Lt. Teresa Croyle. The other was my nephew, Todd Burke.

As I had them sit down in the 'hot chairs', I said "Since I don't see a ring on your finger, Lieutenant, I'm guessing this is a professional visit."

"Yes sir." said Teresa, not even blinking at what I'd just suggested. "Todd and I talked about this last night, and I suggested he come and talk to you."

I nodded, and Todd began: "A few months ago, I talked to Lt. Perlman about beginning a deeper investigation of the murder of my brother Jack and his lover by her husband. We wanted to see if there was more to it than just a domestic situation."

"Yes, I know." I said. "And as far as I know, she hadn't found out much that we didn't already know."

"We were wondering, sir," said Teresa, "if this attack on Tanya might be related to her investigation of that stuff."

"Well, that's certainly a thought. My own theory is that since Pete Feeley's shield was stolen from my wall here," I said as I pointed to the wall to my right, "and was placed in little Pete's crib, that he was the target more than his mother actually was."

Teresa looked at Todd and said "That's probably it." Todd did not seem to be convinced.

"Tell you guys what." I said. "Todd, I'm sure you have your own resources, but Teresa, you can work with Todd and look into whatever Tanya had found on this. Get with Mary about accessing files so that others can't see what you're doing; don't trust your computers in your offices to be secure, either."

They nodded, and got up to go. "One more thing, Lt. Croyle," I said. "With Lt. Perlman hospitalized, you'll need to step up and help Captain Ross with the overall Detective leadership. I'm going to talk with her about bringing you more into the loop on MCD stuff as well as Vice. Those dinners Todd is cooking for you might have to be served a little later in the evening."

"Not much gets by you, Uncle Don." my nephew said with that grin of his.

"That comes from growing up with your mother as my older sister. I'm always watching behind my back." I retorted. "You guys have a good day. Now, scoot." They left.

Part 10 - Awakening and Gloom

Friday, February 5th. I was called by my wife to come to University Hospital. The doctors had not sedated Tanya too heavily, and they expected her to wake up.

As I drove with Cindy in my Police SUV, she asked "Was it like this when I was in the Hospital?"

"No. It was much worse." I said. "We didn't know if you were even going to live, and at one point you got pretty close, there."

"My father told me about that." Cindy said. "He said he knew for sure that you were his nephew when you got to my bedside before he did."

"I think he knew already." I said. "Anyway, Pamela's funeral is this afternoon at the Methodist Church. Are you going?"

"Yes." Cindy said. "The normal Police Honor Guard is going to be the pallbearers, by the way. I think Pete and his dad would've like that."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Tanya?" asked Dr. Morgan, touching her shoulder. "Tanya?"

We were in ICU, and Dr. Morgan was waking Tanya up. Her head began moving slightly, and she opened her eyes. As is common, the first thing she did was try to reject her breathing tube."

"Relax, relax." said Dr. Morgan. "That's a breathing tube. Just let it work... there you go." Tanya calmed down. "You've got a couple of friends, here."

Cindy and I came up so that Tanya could see us. Tanya smiled as I said "Well, there you are. Glad to see you back with us." Tanya smiled, then I saw the inevitable shock in her eyes, knowing what it meant.


"Relax, relax." I said. "Pete is fine. He's with me and Laura. We're keeping him safe." Relief flooded Tanya's face, then she looked up inquiringly again.

"Pamela didn't make it." I said, again knowing her thoughts. "She died in the attack. There's nothing you can do about that, so just try to relax. We're taking care of Pete, so don't worry about him. By the way, here is someone who knows what it's like to be where you are now." I backed away as Cindy talked to Tanya for several minutes.

As they did, I was remembering the evening before, as Laura and I showed Carole her new room. It was the bedroom facing the front of the house, which had four overall bedrooms. And Carole was now in the 'Why' phase of life.

"This is your new room, Carole." Laura said. "Your own room! There's your bed, and your toys, and Bowser's basket."

"Why?" Carole asked.

"Because Jim and Pete are in your old room, so you get your own." I said.

"Why?"

"Because Pete is staying with us." Laura said. "His mom is sick, so we're taking care of him."

"What about his daddy?" asked Carole. Laura looked at me.

"His daddy is in Heaven." I told Carole. "He died a long time ago."

"Why?"

No way I was going to answer that one. Fortunately, little kids have a six second attention span. I took advantage of that by saying "We'll talk about that later. Right now, you need to take your bath and go to bed. And there's Bowser, looking at his new room." Indeed, Bowser was sniffing around, and so was Buddy. Bowser was surprised to find his basket in the room. We wondered what he and Buddy would do.

"Is Pete going to get a dog, too?" Carole asked.

"Not right now, Babygirl." Laura said. Her voice was just a tad acidic. "We have enough dogs."

"He can share Buddy with Jim." I said. "And you should be a good girl and let both of them play with Bowser, too." That did not go over very well.

"Bowser is my dog!" Carole declared emphatically. Yep, she was her father's daughter, all right.

By the way, Bowser slept in his basket in Carole's room, and Buddy slept in his under Jim's crib, seemingly undisturbed by the new arrangements. People should be more like dogs, I thought to myself.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The funeral at the Methodist Church was fairly well attended. I wore civilian clothes, as did Cindy. Teresa wore her duty dress uniform, as did a number of the Uniformed Officers that had known Pete Feeley: Rudistan, Morton, Hicks.

Among the crowd was Pastor Westboro of First Baptist. He sat with his Council colleague, Kelly Carnes, and her dentist husband, who looked fairly nerdish; I had non-church-like thoughts that Kelly, a beautiful woman, was probably spreading her legs for other men. Actually, I was sure of it, but I digress...

I also took note of who was not there, and who rightly should've been. And I realized I had work to do, but it would have to wait...

We also attended the graveside service. She had had to bury her husband, and then her son... something no mother should have to do. And now we laid Pamela Feeley to rest at Cemetery Hill, next to her husband. Their graves were on the other side of the hill from Pete's. After the ceremony, several of us Police Officers walked over to his graveside. The flowers I had left there had been removed, and another display in a small flowerpot was there.

"Doesn't seem right, sir." said Rudistan. "Pete Feeley and now his mom, good people murdered, while bad guys are getting away with everything."

"Not everything." I said. "And we're here to do what we can, Rudistan. We're gonna get the bastards behind this, and you'll be right there with the cuffs."

"Better not trust me, Commander." said Rudistan. "He might not make it to County Jail, if you know what I mean." I smiled, knowing that he would be lucky if he made it into Rudistan's custody...

Part 11 - Reckoning

Sunday, February 7th. Tanya was recovering well. The breathing tube was removed, somewhat to my amazement. She was going to be moved to a private room, as well. Dr. Morgan called me and asked me to come to his office in the Hospital.

"We ran the preliminary tests while she was half out of it." Dr. Morgan said. "But we need to do the tests while she's awake. And I'll tell you now, Don... she's never going to walk again."

"What about her... bodily functions?" I asked. One problem of paralysis not discussed is not being able to control doing one's business, or the body not being able to eliminate wastes without external help. I won't describe it here, but it's not good.

"Fortunately, she has most of that. A couple of vertebrae higher, and that might not've been the case." Dr. Morgan said. "We're not sure about the sexual functions, though. But what I need right now... is for you to be there when we break the news to her."

"Sure," I said, "but maybe Jack Muscone would be better?"

"You can call him, but there is one thing I know." said Dr. Morgan. "Your officers worship you, Don. Ms. Perlman did not arrange for custody of her son to be with anyone else. She may love others, but she trusts you. Having you there will help her through this like nothing else can."

"Okay." I said. I called Jack Muscone anyway.

When he got there, we went to Tanya's room. I was tired of Hospital rooms, having seen Amy's life slip away over a month of visits with Buddy, and the pain-filled memories of Cindy's time here. But I was grateful for this Hospital, and its doctors and staff; without them some of my finest Officers, and some fine Fire Department people would be dead... and I'd been a patient myself.

Tanya was happy to see both of us. I told her that Pete was doing fine with Jim and Carole. Jack asked her how she was doing, and she said she was doing fine and wanted to get out of here.

They began running the tests. Tanya could move her arms, she could feel the pinpoints on her abdomen and most of her back. Then Dr. Morgan took the bandage off her leg wound, and I could see the stitching. "Can you feel that?" he asked, touching around the wound.

"Uhhh... no." Tanya said.

"Do you feel your toes?" Dr. Morgan asked.

"Yes." Tanya said.

"Wiggle them." said Dr. Morgan. They didn't move. Tanya looked surprised.

"I feel them there, but I can't... move them." she said.

"Okay, don't try to move anything." Dr. Morgan said. "Just relax."

"What's going on, Doctor?" Tanya asked. I could see she was trying to move her toes again, and was failing. She looked up at me.

"But... but I can feel my legs!" she exclaimed.

"Do you feel your wound?" Dr. Morgan asked. "Do you feel the pain from it?"

"No, it doesn't hurt..." Tanya said as Dr. Morgan brought a stool around and sat down.

"Ms. Perlman," he said, "one of the bullets struck you at the base of your spine. The damage was pretty severe. We'll run more tests, but there's no way to say this but straight out: you're paralyzed from the waist down."

"No, I feel my legs!" Tanya said, then looked at me. "Don, tell him I can feel my legs."

"Tanya," I said, "that's your brain playing tricks on you. It's telling you what should be there; it hasn't figured out yet that your legs aren't responding."

It was hitting her. "How am I supposed to be a cop and help you catch bad guys?" she asked. And then the tears started.

"Why don't we worry about that when the time comes." I said. "Right now, Tanya, you need to think about getting well. One step at a time, okay?"

"Don..." Tanya said, her eyes pleading, "I'm scared."

My heart went out to her, even as I knew I could not know what she was facing in her mind as well as her future. Still, I tried my best to assuage her fear.

"Try not to be." I said. "I'm here to help you, Jack's here to help you, and Cindy and Teresa and everyone. We'll get through this, as the team we are. We're with you, and we're not going to abandon you. We will face the fear together."

"Yes, we will." said Jack Muscone. Tanya reached out for both our hands and squeezed them. After a moment, I put her hand on Jack's and said "I'll let y'all talk while I talk to Dr. Morgan..."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Leaving the Hospital, I went to the building that housed the University President's office. I knew that University President Wellman was there... because he was meeting with my wife Laura as well as other Department Heads of the various Schools and Colleges.

As the meeting concluded and people chatted as they left, Laura went up to Dr. Wellman. "Dr. Wellman, you are about to have a visitor."

"Oh? Who's that?" asked Wellman skeptically.

"My husband. He wishes to talk to you about his Police Lieutenant that is in the hospital." Laura said.

"Well, actually I'm very busy and need to..."

"Doctor." Laura said severely and formally. "This is not a request. I'm just letting you know. You might want to just suck it up rather than keep him waiting."

Wellman stared daggers at Laura, but realized he was not going to get past the Iron Crowbar. He said nothing but his eyes showed that he was relenting. Laura went to the door and opened it, then left the room. A second later her husband walked in, his trademark red crowbar in his hand.

"You wanted to speak with me?" Wellman said, acidly and formally.

"Yes, Dr. Wellman." I said. "I want to know why you have not visited Tanya in the hospital yet."

"I... I've been very busy--" Wellman stammered.

"I'm busy, too." I said. "But I'm there for her because she needs me to be. She needs you to be there for her, as well. This is her darkest hour."

"I..." Wellman said, then finally sucked up his resolve, and his courage. "Look, Commander, there's not much I can do for her. You're caring for her child, you're leading your Police to find who did this..."

"Dr. Wellman," I said, "Tanya cares about you a great deal. In my opinion, way too damn much for her own good. But that's not my business. What is my business is seeing her get well. And for that to happen, you need to go visit her. You're her lover, you need to resolve your relationship with her."

Wellman's eyes had flashed anger at the 'too much for her own good' comment, and they about popped out of his head at my last remark. "How dare you!" he gasped. I was having none of it.

"I dare," I thundered, "because she is one of my Police Officers, and I take care of my people. I do not leave loose ends, Dr. Wellman. If all she was to you is a sex object, you're going to tell her that. If it's more, and you're going to see her through this, you're going to tell her that. Whatever she is to you, you're going to tell her. You owe her that much. So... what is it going to be?"

Wellman did not ask what the other options might possibly be, which was a wise move on his part. "All right," he said, "I'll visit her tomorrow."

Part 12 - And Life Goes On

"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" said the lovely redhead at 7:00am, Monday, February 8th. "Channel Two News has learned that Town & County Police Lieutenant Tanya Perlman... is paralyzed from the waist down."