The Heart of an Assassin (16 page)

Traveling north on I-87, Nick called them
back an hour later telling them to drop the phone off at a
restaurant located on the corner of Jane and Patton Streets in the
town of Saugerties, less than a mile off the thruway. Half an hour
after that, a car pulled up with two men in it. One remained in the
car while the other entered the restaurant, unaware that Nick was
observing them through binoculars from a parked car across the
street. Nick watched as they drove around the restaurant, parking
across the street just a few cars from where Nick was. Nick pulled
out alongside them on the passenger side. Both were busy looking
for Nick through their binoculars and did not notice he had pulled
up next to them.

Nick rolled the window down, pulled out his
silencer, and fired into the car. The first shot shattered the
window and struck the man on the passenger side of the car. Before
the driver could react, Nick fired a second shot, hitting him in
the eye. The third and fourth shots finished the job on the two
men. Nick stepped out of the car, reached into theirs, and removed
their mobile push-to-talk phone.

“Thank you, gentlemen,” Nick said, then drove
away.

A few minutes later, there was a squawk on
the phone Nick now had. “Come in, sightseer.” Nick heard over the
air.

“Sightseer here,” Nick responded.

“Did you connect with the pigeon?” the voice
asked.

“Yep, connection made,” responded Nick.

“Well, what was he driving? What did you
learn?” the voice shouted.

“That you shouldn’t send boys to do men’s
work,” Nick responded.

There was a long pause. “Who the fuck is
this?” the voice asked.

“You know who this is. So let’s stop fucking
around. Put Fabio or Felicia on, right now,” Nick ordered.

“Nick, is that you?” Felicia asked.

“Yes, it’s me. Thank you for the radio. Oh,
sorry about your two friends. You need to make the necessary
arrangements about letting their next of kin know of their sudden
departure,” Nick said casually.

“You son of a bitch!” Felicia shouted at
him.

“Now, now, that is no way for a lady to act.
Business is business. They shouldn’t have taken a detour. Was that
yours or your brother’s orders?” Nick went on.

“Does it matter?” she asked him.

“Actually, it does not,” Nick responded. “So
where do we go from here? Still want me to track the judge down, or
are you having a change of heart?” Nick asked her.

“You got your orders, Nick,” she
responded.

“Well then, do you have any new news for me?”
he asked.

“Yes, the agents traveling with the judge are
Sheila Cooper and Samual Williams. If you like, we can fax you
their pictures,” Felicia said.

“That would be nice. I’ll get back to you on
where to fax them,” Nick responded.

Felicia once again felt that sickening
feeling in her stomach about Nick. Not so much because he killed
two of her people, but because she could not control him. He mocked
her without any fear for his life.

Didn’t he know who he was talking to? Didn’t
he realize she could have him eliminated at a moment’s notice? Who
the fuck did he think he was, she thought to herself.

Nick continued his journey north along the
New York Thruway and decided to take up residence in a nearby motel
in Ravena. He would wait until he got word on the latest
sighting.

A couple of days later, a call came in that
Sheila had used her credit card at a gas station a few miles east
of the thruway. Nick immediately checked out and jumped onto the
thruway heading north to Berkshire Spur Road. Fifteen minutes
later, he was headed east, less than 120 miles from where Tyler and
his traveling companions decided to hole up for the night.

Closing In

June 14, 1984

A couple of days after checking into a motel
in Framingham, Massachusetts, Sheila decided that they should call
in to see if there had been any new developments since the last
time she spoke to Agent John Connolly. Driving several miles from
their present location, they found a gas station. Unknown to Tyler
and his companions was the fact that there were approximately
fifteen cars sent by the Giordano family heading in their general
direction.

“John, is that you?” asked Sheila.

“Yes, yes, it’s me. We were able to get
authority to use audio scanning equipment to monitor the Giordanos.
We have situated ourselves just outside of their estate and have
been monitoring their communications for the last hour. We can’t
make out everything they are saying, but we did manage to piece
together some vital information. They have mobilized their people
toward Ravena, New York. I don’t know how many cars are looking for
you, but I can only imagine there are quite a few. Also, make sure
you pay everything with cash. They can somehow monitor the use of
credit cards,” John said.

“What! We can’t use credit cards?” Sheila
almost shouted into the phone. With that, she quickly hung up the
phone and ran to the car. “Eric, we got to get back to the motel as
fast as possible. They’re monitoring our use of credit cards.” Eric
as was already putting the car in gear before Sheila was even
in.

“Shit, these bastards have better
intelligence than we do,” Sheila said aloud to Eric.

Peeling out of the parking area, they bolted
out onto the street almost, causing a car to ram into them. Down
the street, a police cruiser saw them peel out and immediately
turned on his sirens and chased after them.

“Jesus Christ! We are being chased by a cop!”
Eric said, looking at his rearview mirror.

“We don’t have time for this,” Sheila
said.

“If we don’t stop, he’s going to call it in,
and the shit will hit the fan,” Eric shouted.

“Stop then,” Sheila said. “Eric, you take off
after we stop, and I’ll jump out of the car.”

Eric pulled over to the side, and before he
could stop, Sheila jumped out of the car, raising her shield to the
oncoming police cruiser coming to a stop behind them.

Eric peeled out, leaving Sheila to face the
officer.

“FBI,” shouted Sheila.

The officer looked at Sheila coming toward
him showing some sort of wallet, which he could not make out.

Stopping, he jumped out of the car with his
gun drawn.

Sheila shouted again, “FBI!”

The officer stopped and asked her to keep her
hands where he could see them. Sheila complied by raising her
hands. The officer, with his gun drawn, approached cautiously, took
the wallet and examined the shield. “What’s going on here, Agent
Cooper?” he asked her.

“We have a situation. My partner has to get
to a location in order to warn someone that they are in danger,”
Sheila said as fast as she could.

“Okay, slow down. Where is he headed?” he
asked.

“I can show you. But please we have to
hurry,” Sheila said.

“I’ll call for backup,” the officer said.

“No, the people that are after us are
monitoring radio transmissions. We can’t take a chance having our
location revealed,” Sheila said.

“Oh . . . okay . . . okay. Let’s go.” The
officer got into his cruiser while Sheila jumped into the passenger
side. With sirens blaring, they drove after Eric. “What’s your
name, Officer?” Sheila asked.

“Gene, Gene Tyler,” he responded.

“Have you ever had to use your weapon in the
line of duty, Gene?” asked Sheila.

“No, ma’am,” Gene responded.

Back at the Giordano home, they got word that
someone using Sheila’s credit card checked into a motel at 1186
Worcester Road in Framingham, Massachusetts. This information had
already been broadcast to all the cars, including the car Nick was
driving. All cars were now headed toward their location.

One of the Giordano cars was pulling in south
of Eric, who screeched into the motel parking lot, bringing their
attention to him. The three occupants stared at Eric as he jumped
out of the car and ran toward one of the rooms and started knocking
frantically at the door. A few seconds later, they saw the judge
emerging from the room.

“Shit, it’s them,” shouted one of the
occupants. “What do we do?” another said.

Over the mobile phone, they heard someone
shout, “Take them out. Now!” It was Fabio shouting the order.

Without thinking, the men jumped out of the
car and started firing at Eric and the judge. Tyler ducked behind
the BMW while he was running out of the room pulling out his
revolver and crouching next to Eric. The judge had already gotten
into the backseat of the car when Tyler reached in and pulled him
back out as a hail of bullets battered the car.

“Get back into the room!” Tyler ordered.

The judge ran back to the room as Sam was
coming out with his gun drawn. “Cover the judge,” Tyler shouted
back to Sam. Sam retreated back to the doorway of the room and took
a stand there as a Giordano car approached from the north side of
the motel and entered the parking area. The car came to a
screeching halt and turned sideways as two occupants scrambled to
the other side, using the car as a shield.

They were now caught in a cross fire as the
occupants from the other Giordano car on the north side opened
fire. Sam was hit as he ducked behind a parked car in front of the
room but was able to get off a few shots at the newest car to join
the attack.

A few seconds later, another Giordano car was
bearing down on them, right over the sidewalk heading straight for
Tyler and Eric. Eric stood up and shot directly at the driver’s
side of the windshield causing the car to sway to the right and
into another parked car. The passenger in that car came out
shooting, almost hitting Eric. Tyler turned his attention to him
and fired, hitting him squarely in the chest.

Less than a minute later, a police car came
flying around the corner with its sirens blaring. Gene, seeing what
was going on, floored the accelerator and rammed the Giordano car
south of Eric and Tyler, knocking the three shooters behind it to
the ground.

Both Sheila and Gene jumped out
simultaneously with their guns drawn. Gene ran around the left side
of the car as one of the gunmen was reaching for a weapon that had
been knocked out of his hand. “Stop or I’ll shoot!” shouted Gene.
The man sprawled out on the ground, reached the gun, and turned to
fire. Gene opened fire, hitting him in the head.

Sheila had gone around the right side of the
car as one of the other men was raising his weapon to fire at Gene.
She took aim and shot, killing him instantly. The third man lay
there motionless, apparently knocked out from the impact of the
crash.

“Cuff him,” Sheila shouted to Gene. He jumped
into action. Knocking the gun out of reach of the man he had shot,
he then pulled out his handcuffs and cuffed the man in the middle
who remained unconscious. Sheila saw that the situation here was
under control, and left Gene, to run toward Tyler, Eric, and
Sam.

Just then another Giordano car came
screeching onto the scene from Gene’s direction, forcing him to
abandon his current position and seek refuge behind his cruiser.
There were four occupants in this vehicle, and they exited the car
shooting. Gene immediately opened fire, fatally hitting one of the
shooters.

Sheila stopped her run toward the BMW and
turned back to Gene who was being bombarded with gunfire. She could
not get a clear shot and knew precious seconds were slipping by.
This young officer’s life was now in danger. Gene stood up to take
another shot over the top of his cruiser when a bullet ripped
through the car’s window knocking him to the ground. The shooters
began to approach the car when Sheila came onto the scene and
opened fire, hitting one of the men in the chest and abdomen. The
other men retreated back to their car. Gene, now lying on the
ground, could see the men’s feet as they retreated and he fired,
hitting one of them in the ankle. Sheila reached Gene and helped
him up.

“That’s great shooting,” she told him.

“Ju . . . Ju . . . Just lucky,” he replied.
She could see that Gene was scared while at the same time doing
what he was trained to do.

They could hear sirens in the distance. The
cavalry was coming, thought Sheila as she kept the shooters at bay.
In the meantime, Tyler, Sam, and Eric were keeping their assailants
at bay as well and were more than relieved to hear the sirens. As
the police cars came on to the scene, they took positions at
different locations, blocking any retreats by any of the cars. Now
that they were surrounded, the men behind the two cars raised their
hands and surrendered to the police. In a matter of seconds, it was
all over.

Gene, holding his hand over one side of his
stomach, gave the okay sign to his fellow officers. Sheila, Tyler,
Sam, and Eric all hoisted their guns and raised their shields to
the oncoming officers as Gene walked toward them.

Tyler immediately ran to the room to see to
the judge cowering behind one of the beds. “You call this fuckin’
protection? Shit, it sounded like a war zone out there,” the judge
shouted at Tyler.

“Hey, you’re fuckin’ alive, aren’t you?”
Tyler told him.“Stay here while we sort things out with the local
police,” he ordered the judge.

After conferring with the local chief and
explaining the situation, it was determined that Gene Tyler’s quick
action and decision making had saved the day. He was a hero even
though a few minutes after it was all over Gene fainted.

Sheila called John and told him everything
that had happened, and that they thought it would be best if they
were picked up at the nearby heliport and brought in. John agreed
and dispatched a helicopter to the Framingham Police Station where
they would be picked up.

Across the street, Nick stared with much
amusement, occasionally laughing hysterically as he watched the
events unfold. Man, this is better than an old western, he thought
to himself.