Legacy and Redemption (28 page)

Brooklyn, New York

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Louis Castillo pulled up along Linden Boulevard at the same time the sun crept up over New York City’s eastern skyline. The sun’s first appearance often had the effect of making cops who worked the overnight shift suddenly more tired; this was not the case with Castillo. There was too much at stake if Tim Keegan’s fears were founded.

Castillo killed the unmarked department auto’s engine. He exited the car and retrieved his shield case from his back pocket. Castillo pinned his detective shield to the lapel of his tan overcoat so there would be no confusion as to his identity or rank to the officers sitting inside the marked blue and white department auto parked in front of the Halal restaurant. Having called the precinct to request a uniformed presence immediately after hanging up the phone with Sergeant Galvin had been a critical move. Ensuring that nobody was able to go in…or exit the restaurant prior to Castillo’s arrival was vital.

The sub freezing temperatures on the final day of the year were evident to Castillo; particularly on his face which had no shield from the biting wind. Castillo approached the officers who remained seated inside the police cruiser. The officers, both in their early forties seemed half awake. Castillo realized that they had little insight as to the importance of the reason that they were sitting there—let alone the danger. The driver of the auto looked up as Castillo approached. The officer squinted. He shielded his eyes from the intrusive sunlight with one hand and nudged his partner who had nodded off, with the other. His partner rubbed the sleepiness from his eyes. Neither man seemed all that impressed by Castillo’s presence and neither bothered to get out of the car.

After a brief conversation with the officers, Castillo learned that a second marked radio car was parked in an alley behind the restaurant. Castillo had breathed a sigh of relief upon finding out from the sector car that the restaurant had remained closed in the predawn hours prior to Castillo’s arrival. The metal roll down gates remained in place, indicating the store had likely remained closed since the prior evening.

Castillo turned his attention away from the officers and now focused on the storefront. The all too familiar sinking feeling in the pit of Castillo’s stomach had returned when he noticed the old white delivery truck which had been parked in the back alley last time Castillo had been there. The vehicle had been recently moved and now parked in front of the store. Castillo could see remnants of weeds and bushes which had grown into the delivery truck’s crevices from the time it had spent concealed in the back alley. He walked a bit closer until he could read the blue lettering on the truck—
Linden Jamaican Bakery
.

Castillo was sure Keegan’s intuition was correct now. The delivery truck was going to serve as the vessel; it would be a vehicle aimed at mass destruction and death. Castillo began to walk a bit closer to the truck when the first of the Emergency Service Vehicles could be seen in the distance. Over the course of the next fifteen minutes, a Captain who was the overall patrol supervisor for the entire north end of Brooklyn arrived on the scene, as well as members of the NYPD’s Bomb Squad, and an assortment of Emergency Service personnel.

Castillo quickly briefed the members of the emergency service team. The ESU sergeant huddled with his men and came up with a quick tactical plan for entry. Castillo stood by feeling helpless. There was an urgency to see if the stolen military C-4 explosives were concealed in the basement, but Castillo knew that the officer’s safety was paramount. Still, the sooner they knew if the explosives were there, the better they would all be. If they found that the explosives had once been there, but no longer were…well that would create an entirely new type of urgency.

Castillo paced the side walk along Linden Boulevard; briefly talking with various other members of the NYPD as the Emergency Service officers donned their heavy duty flak jackets and Kevlar helmets. The lead officer carried a four foot clear ballistic shield while others carried Mini-14 assault rifles. The officers lined up along the sidewalk off to the side of the store. One of the officers produced a small hand held circular saw. He switched it on and it jumped to life. The officer squatted down and set the saw to the padlock. Orange, blue, and white sparks shot out from the tool, and the locked proved no match for the saw. The officer tossed the lock to the ground, set the saw down on the sidewalk, and rolled up the gate. One quick hit from a battering ram and the front door caved in.

The officer with the ballistic shield led the way, followed by the sergeant, and the rest of the team. The officers filed into the location one at a time; each officer flanking right and left in turn as they entered. Castillo’s heart thumped increasingly harder against his chest as he listened for any sign of disturbance inside the restaurant. He wanted to enter the location with the Emergency Service team, but knew that protocol demanded he remain outside until the
ESU
members cleared the location and deemed it safe to enter.

It probably took less than ten minutes for the Emergency Service cops to exit the location and announce that the premise was empty, but to Castillo, it seemed like an eternity. Castillo was then invited inside the location and led the ESU cops and members of the bomb squad to the area of concern in the basement. Castillo breathed a sigh of relief to see that the walls were still intact. If Keegan was right, however, a few hundred pounds of military grade C-4 plastic explosives were concealed behind them. Castillo reflected back to the day when he first met Keegan, and the rookie cop pointed out the fresh paint and uneven walls. Castillo had been quick to criticize; probably making Keegan feel foolish. Castillo was now the one feeling foolish for not listening to what Keegan had to say back then.

Comparing the walls to the ceiling, Castillo now saw things more clearly than he did a few months back. The walls were uneven, and the spackling was crude at best; just as Keegan had said. The paint on the ceiling was years…if not decades old, while the paint on the walls was relatively fresh.

How could I have not realized it back then; especially after Keegan commented on it? I knew about the C-4 back then. I should’ve at least suspected it could be here. Damn it!

Castillo refocused—putting his self doubt behind him. “Guys, I have reason to believe that behind these walls there are hundreds of pounds of stolen military grade C-4 explosives.”

The ESU sergeant without as much as missing a beat turned to one of his men. “Go upstairs and get the thermal imaging device. Tell the bomb squad guys to come down here.” As the officer went upstairs, the sergeant turned to Castillo. “Where going to get a thermal read on the walls to make sure they’re not booby trapped in any way.”

“How will you be able to tell that?”

The sergeant would explain to Castillo, “We have a hand held thermal imaging device. It’s sort of like an x-ray machine for the walls. We’ll be able to see any contrast in heat between the walls and any images behind them. We would easily be able to see if there was a wire or blasting cap connected to the walls. The main concern, if you’re right about the C-4, is that whoever put it there would booby trap it, and only he would know where it was safe to cut through the sheet rock to retrieve the explosives.”

Castillo turned as he heard the rumbling made by the officers coming down the stairs. The first one was the officer who had just left. In his hand, was an instrument that in Castillo’s mind was a cross between a radar gun and a video camera—the handheld thermal imaging device, he deducted. Directly behind him, was an officer that Castillo had only recently met. It was Detective Lawrence—the bomb squad detective who had rendered the suicide vest worn by Nazeem al-Haq inert.

Castillo and Lawrence exchanged a quick salutation before the ESU man put the yellow and black device to the wall. He was methodical in moving the device slowly up and down the drywall. Castillo did his best to watch over the detective’s shoulders as he did, but he was unable to see very much. The screen on the device gave off a mixture of red and orange images which were not very enlightening to Castillo. Lawrence, who had also been looking on, and was clearly more familiar with the device than was Castillo, had a different read. “There’s definitely something behind there.”

Castillo’s heart, which had just begun to restore to a normal beat, once again picked up steam. “What is it? Are you able to tell?”

Lawrence shook his head. “Not until we open the walls up…but it’s safe to say there are no wires or blasting caps connected to the walls.”

The answer seemed obvious, but Castillo asked it anyway. “So what do we do now?”

“We go in and get it.”

There was one thing abundantly obvious to Louis Castillo…his last day as a member of the NYPD before his retirement would assuredly be a memorable one.

*

Detective Zachary Lawrence, for the unprecedented second time on the same case, donned the eighty pound blast suit. While he was confident that there were no hidden dangers within the walls, Lawrence would proceed with caution. He knew if the information was correct, and it was C-4 within the walls, it was an extremely stable explosive, but there was no need to take any unnecessary chances.

Lawrence remained alone in the basement as all of the other officers had been requested to leave the premises. Lawrence knew that he would be cutting into the sheetrock the old fashioned way—with a sheetrock knife. Despite the fact that the C-4 was very stable, Lawrence couldn’t say the same if there were other explosives hidden within the walls. Blasting caps, for example, could more easily be set off, thus detonating the entire stash of explosives. Lawrence plunged the sheet rock knife deeply into the wall and began to cut slowly in a downward direction.

*

Castillo was once again pacing the sidewalk, but this time it was across the street from the restaurant. He watched as the numerous uniformed officers set up a perimeter with the infamous yellow tape with black lettering warning
CRIME SCENE DO NOT CROSS
.

Castillo walked a few blocks away; a safe distance so his cell phone could not inadvertently act as a trigger for the explosives. He reached to the inside pocket of his trench coat and retrieved his phone. After pulling the strap tightly to combat the frigid temperatures, he placed a call. He had enough experience to know to keep his commanding officer updated on every step of the way on an incident such as this one. The phone was answered on the second ring.

“Hi Inspector; it’s Louie.” Castillo could see his breath in front of him escaping into the air as he spoke.

“ESU took some x-rays of the wall, and they said there’s definitely something in there. The bomb squad’s down there now cutting open the walls.”

After a brief pause, “The Duty Captain has the task force here. They’re going door to door in a two block radius and evacuating people.”

Castillo nodded his head as if he were talking to Inspector Talbot in person rather than on the telephone. “Yeah, it does seem like Keegan was correct, but we should know more in a little while.”

After Inspector Talbot explained to Castillo that he and Assistant Director Wolf were going to remain at 26 Federal Plaza to keep Washington informed of any and all updates, Castillo continued. “I understand, Inspector. No problem. Frank should be here any minute now. As soon as I know for sure, I’ll call you right back.”

Castillo shook his head. “No, Inspector. There’s probably close to a hundred cops here. There’s really no need for anyone else from our office to respond right now. Once this is wrapped up—assuming we come up with the explosives—I’ll have Crime Scene come and take pictures and process the scene. I think our men can be used better in the office going through surveillance videos to try to see how long the explosives have been here. Frank and I will go store to store and see which of them have outside surveillance videos that may show the explosives being delivered to the store. I saw a few houses around the corner that are equipped with cameras out front as well. If we get lucky they may show a view of the alley.”

Castillo listened as Talbot responded. He again shook his head as he answered. “I don’t see a need for Keegan to come here. I’ll call you back when I know more, and then you can determine if you want Sergeant Galvin or any other supervisor from the office to come to the scene.”

Castillo hung up the phone, and began walking back to the location. The neighborhood was slowly coming to life as people began to gather outside of the crime scene tape trying to figure out what was going on. Most he figured, would assume there had been a homicide, as this particular neighborhood in New York City was not a stranger to violent crime. In fact, the precinct in which they were currently situated, often led the entire city in homicides.

As Castillo drew near to the storefront restaurant, he observed Detective Lawrence emerge from the front door. A quick study of the man revealed a white powder like substance—clearly the sheetrock fragments—clashing against the olive green bomb suit. Lawrence waived an arm over his head, signaling for someone to respond. Castillo watched as an NYPD truck approached. In Castillo’s near three decades in the department, he had never seen this particular vehicle prior to six weeks ago. This would now be the second time; the only other time was the week of Thanksgiving, when it was used to transport a suicide vest to the department range for disposal.