The Heart of an Assassin (22 page)

Felicia looked up as both Tyler and Eric
exited the waiting room. A few seconds later, a doctor walked into
the room. “Ms. Giordano?” he inquired.

“Yes, that’s me,” Felicia responded.

“Your brother has pulled through. He will be
all right,” he told her.

“Oh my God. Thank you, Doctor. When can I see
him?” she asked him.

“He has already been moved to the recovery
room and should be coming out of anesthesia in about fifteen
minutes. It will be good for him to see you when he opens his
eyes,” he told her.

The doctor told her Fabio was up on the next
floor, room 407. With that, Felicia got up and headed for the
elevator followed by her two bodyguards.

Tyler was on the phone trying to get a hold
of Captain O’Malley when he saw Eric walking toward Felicia as she
approached him heading for the elevators. They exchanged some
words, and Eric returned to Tyler’s side. “Any luck?” Eric asked
him.

“No, but they said they would relay the
message,” Tyler responded. “What gives with her?” he said, nodding
toward Felicia.

“Her brother pulled through, and she’s going
up to see him in recovery,” Eric answered.

“Wow, that’s thrilling. I couldn’t give a
shit if the bastard died. As far as I’m concerned, he would have
deserved it,” Tyler commented.

Eric stared at Tyler for a few seconds,
knowing full well that he meant every word. Tyler stared back at
Eric. “What?” Tyler asked.

“Nothing,” Eric responded.

They both watched as Felicia and her two
guards got into the elevator. Turning to face the doors, she looked
right at Tyler and gave him a broad smile. Tyler stared back at her
and right through her with a silent promise that this was not over.
Felicia’s smile vanished. Bitch, thought Tyler.

Back at Grand Central Station, O’Malley got a
radio call that Tyler was trying to reach him and that he was at
Bellevue Hospital. “What the hell is he doing there?” O’Malley said
aloud.

“Who?” asked Sheila?

“Tyler, he’s over at Bellevue,” he told
her.

“Oh, maybe he’s comforting Ms. Giordano,” she
responded.

“Yeah right,” commented Sam.

“She’d be better off buried up to her neck in
sand at high tide.” They smiled at the thought, then headed to
Bellevue to catch up with Tyler.

Nick had the cab driver stop a block away
from the hospital, which was crawling with reporters and
photographers trying to get any news on the condition of Mr.
Giordano. Entering through a side entrance, Nick approached the
admitting desk and inquired about his brother, Fabio Giordano. The
receptionist knew of the Giordanos and wasn’t about to take the
chance of upsetting a family member with any red tape.

“Sir, your brother came out of the operating
room just five minutes ago. He . . . he is fine. He is in the
recovery room. Umm . . . room 407, that’s where they took him. Your
sister is there with him now,” she volunteered.

“Can I go up and see him, now?” Nick asked
her.

“Well, you are only allowed two visitors at a
time, and there are three people already there. But I don’t see why
not,” she told him.

Nick smiled at her as she handed him a
visitor’s card. “Have a nice day, Mr. Giordano,” she told him. Nick
nodded and headed to the elevators. The receptionist turned to the
other receptionist who had her back to her. “Geri, do you know who
that was?” she asked her.

“Who are you talking about?” Geri asked.

“That was Mr. Giordano’s brother. That’s who
that was,” she told Geri.

“You’re crazy. Mr. Giordano doesn’t have a
brother. He only has a sister,” she responded.

“No, you’re wrong. He said he was his
brother. I am sure of it,” she answered back.

“Yeah, probably a reporter trying to get a
scoop,” Geri told her.

“Damn, I never thought of that. I should call
security and let them know,” she said.

“And get in trouble because you let him in?
Are you nuts?” Geri asked her. With that, the receptionist nodded
and simply ignored the incident.

Four minutes later, Sheila, Sam, and O’Malley
arrived at Bellevue Hospital. The reporters immediately recognized
O’Malley and rushed him for information.

“Who shot Mr. Giordano? Did you catch him?
Was Ms. Giordano also shot? Is he dead?” were the questions thrown
at them as they broke through the crowd and headed into the lobby,
ignoring all questions.

“What floor is Fabio Giordano on?” O’Malley
asked the receptionist as he passed by.

“Uh . . . room 407,” she quickly responded to
him.

Tyler had called O’Malley back a few minutes
before and learned that he was headed to Bellevue Hospital to meet
up with him. Tyler and Eric headed to the fourth floor to await
O’Malley’s arrival. Eric knew he would be interested in what
Felicia had to say.

Nick exited on the fourth floor and headed to
a utility room where he changed into scrubs and covered his head
with a cap. He cautiously exited and walked in the direction of
room 407. Seeing two men standing in front of the room, he detoured
and entered another room on the opposite side of the hallway. Luck
was on his side as the room was empty. From his vantage point, he
could see the two men guarding Fabio. Nick watched for about five
minutes as he contemplated his next move. Moving the pistol from
the back of his belt to the front, he stepped out into the hallway
and headed for the room 407.

The elevator doors opened with Tyler and Eric
stepping out in search of room 407, figuring they would meet
O’Malley there and confront the Giordanos. They approached the
nurse’s station for directions. As they walked toward the room,
they heard someone call from behind them.

“Hey, Tyler. Eric.” Both Tyler and Eric
turned. It was the captain accompanied by Sheila and Sam.

Nick approached room 407 and nodded to the
two men who nodded back as they allowed him to enter the room.
Felicia gently massaged Fabio’s head, her back to Nick as he
entered the room.

“Ms. Giordano, how is our patient doing?” he
gently asked her.

“He seems fine,” she answered as she slowly
turned to see Nick. The blood drained from Felicia’s face when she
turned and saw the barrel of a silencer staring her in the
face.

“Smile,” he said and fired a bullet into her
head followed by a second shot into Fabio.

He stared at them for only a second, put the
gun back in his pants and calmly walked out. The two men at the
door, not hearing anything suspicious, nodded once again as Nick
exited the room.

Nick moved swiftly, looking down as he walked
in the direction of the elevators. Not realizing he was walking
straight towards Tyler, Eric, Sheila, Sam, and O’Malley who were
congregating in the hallway.

As Nick approached, he realized who they were
and rerouted his direction to a stairway to his right as Sheila
happened to glance down the hallway toward Nick. This time Sheila
reacted quicker, pushing Eric into Tyler as she drew her gun and
fired. Nick ducked and raced into the stairway.

“It’s him!” she screamed. They all turned and
raced after Sheila as she ran for the stairway.

Nick, skipping steps as he ran down the
stairs, stopped long enough to fire a shot up at the descending
pursuers. Within a minute, he was running down the lobby toward the
hospital exit with Sheila close behind him. He turned just before
going through the doors and fired, hitting Sheila in the shoulder.
Eric caught Sheila as she was flung into him by Nick’s shot. Tyler,
who was to the right of Eric, had a clear shot and fired, hitting
Nick in the back of the shoulder as he exited the hospital,. People
on the street, hearing the gunfire, began to scream and duck for
cover. Nick screamed with pain and almost stumbled as he felt
Tyler’s bullet hit him. Running at full gallop, he turned right,
heading toward Twenty-Ninth Street with Tyler close behind.
Reaching Twenty-Ninth and First Avenue, Nick turned right again.
Tyler saw him turn and continued his race after him. Not this time,
you son of a bitch, Tyler thought to himself.

Tyler, reaching the corner in a few seconds,
didn’t bother stopping to look, and ran past the intersection and
turned right. Nick, grasping his shoulder, looked back and didn’t
see anyone, but continued his run forward down Twenty-Ninth Street,
toward FDR Drive. Tyler was on the other side of the street and
could see Nick half a block ahead of him. Now picking up speed, he
was closing in on him. Nick reached the under path of FDR Drive and
had to run across the northbound side of it, barely avoiding
oncoming traffic. Tyler was now only a quarter of a block behind
Nick and was closing in fast. Reaching the FDR Highway, Tyler
shouted to Nick to halt, but Nick continued. The noise of the
highway traffic obscured Tyler’s shouts.

Nick reached the walkway along the East River
and started heading north, still running at a good pace. Tyler,
reaching the walkway, now had a clear shot at Nick. Tyler shouted
again. This time Nick heard him and turned raising his gun. Tyler
stumbled forward, tripping over himself, as Nick aimed but did not
fire at him; instead, Nick turned and continued running. Tyler
aimed and fired, hitting Nick squarely in the back. Nick stumbled
forward, grabbing the railing on his right, which ran along the
walkway. Turning once again, he raised his gun as Tyler got
closer.

Tyler stared at Nick, thinking about what his
captain had told him: This man killed the men who killed my
mother.

Tyler fired again. Nick raised his gun as he
took in this sight in the slowest of motion. He smiled as Tyler’s
bullet ripped through him with a force that sent Nick plummeting
over the guardrail and into the East River.

Tyler reached the guardrail as Nick hit the
river, life drawing out of him. It was over.

Seconds later, Tyler was joined by O’Malley
and Sam. They stood there together, staring into the river as if
expecting to see Nick resurface and wave good-bye. Though O’Malley
would have the river dragged for Nick’s body, he would never be
found.

Tyler returned to duty the very next Monday
though O’Malley told him he could have a couple of weeks off. He
immediately wanted to be brought up to date on what was happening
with the Johnson kid, and O’Malley, though reluctantly, obliged.
The two detectives assigned to the case told Tyler that though
there were witnesses, no one was willing to testify against the
Spades. They were simply scared for their lives. Tyler got the name
of the witnesses and had a chat with them. They confirmed to Tyler
that the Spades were in fact the assailants, that they saw them in
broad daylight shoot Jimmy in the back as he returned from the
grocery store. Next, Tyler visited Mrs. Johnson and told her what
the police had found out.

“People simply are afraid,” he told her.

She stared up at Tyler, with tears in her
eyes and nodded, saying, “I understand, son. It’s all right.”

“No, it’s not,” Tyler responded. “I’m going
to make it right. I promise you that.”

“Tyler, let it go. I have and so must you,”
she told him.

Tyler stared into her eyes and nodded. Gave
her the hug a mother receives from a long-lost son and walked
away.

That night Tyler drove home, made some
coffee, and then knocked on his neighbor’s door. The Hispanic
couple living next door was pleased to have a New York City
detective living in their complex. Though Tyler kept to himself,
they would see him occasionally and simply nod, and Tyler would
give a faint smile and nod back.

“Excuse me, folks. Do you have any sugar I
could borrow?” he asked the young couple.

“Sure, man. No problem,” the man answered,
returning a short while later with half a cup of sugar. “Oh shit,
Maria, he talked to us,” Tyler heard him say to his wife after the
door was closed. A few minutes later Tyler was in his car headed to
Manhattan.

July
17, 1984

Lamont and four members of his gang were
sitting at their normal hang out on 127th Street and St. Nicholas
when they noticed a car on the other side drive slowly by. They
couldn’t see the driver, but they could tell he was white.

“Hey, man! What you looking at?” they shouted
to the driver. The driver picked up speed and drove away. “Shit,
man I think we scared him,” one of the gang bangers said. They all
laughed as they watch the car disappear in the distance.

A few minutes later the car was back; this
time it was coming down on their side of the street. Approaching
slowly, he gave them a chance to see him coming as they reached for
weapons hidden in the nearby bushes above the bench where they were
sitting. “What does this motherfucker want?” Lamont said as he got
up. The gang now moved toward the street to meet the oncoming
car.

The car stopped about a quarter of a block
away. They still could not see the driver as he stepped out of the
car. “Police!” Tyler shouted, showing his badge as he walked on the
street toward them. “You better not have any weapons.” They quickly
discarded their weapons on the sidewalk away from his view.

As Tyler approached, he raised his gun and
fired, hitting the nearest gang member in the head. As they
scrambled for their discarded weapons, Tyler fired again instantly
hitting another member in the back. Tyler ran onto the sidewalk and
fired again, hitting another one in the side of the head. One of
the gang members took off running as Lamont scrambled for his
weapon.

Down on all fours, reaching his weapon, he
was confronted with Tyler staring down at him. “You . . . You’re a
fuckin’ cop,” he said, looking up at Tyler.

“And you, asshole, are dead!” Tyler said as
he fired into Lamont’s head. He then calmly turned around, walked
away, got into his car, and went home.