44 Shades Drawn (1)

Next Day — 8:45 A.M.

It was cold and damp at the Vince Lombardi Service Area, and Dominick Edge's feet were freezing as he stood by the bank of phone booths, waiting for Shifu to arrive. He switched the white paper bag he was holding to his other hand so he could blow into his fingers. The bag contained the three egg sandwiches with lots of ketchup that he'd just bought at a diner on his way over here. In the left-hand pocket of his leather jacket was a brown paper bag containing the small brown glass vial of simulated cyanide. In his right-hand pocket was his gun.

Concealed on his body were the Nagra tape recorder and a Kel transmitter. Dominick scanned the access roads that led to the parking lot, looking for the blue Camaro, the red Oldsmo-bile Calais, or the white Cadillac. His squinting gaze swept the rows of parked cars in the lot.

Today was the day.

They were ready to take him down.

He hadn't gotten much sleep last night. He was too pent up to sleep.

….

Around midnight he had called his old partner, Margaret Moore, at home.

''Did I wake you up.^"

'Yes."

''Sorry."

"I figured it was you."

"We're gonna take him down tomorrow."

"Be careful."

"I'm always careful."

"Be more careful."

Dominick chuckled.

"Don't laugh. Now I'm gonna be up all night worrying about you."

"Don't worry. We've got everything covered. Nothing will happen. I promise."

"Yeah, sure."

"Go back to sleep. I'll call you tomorrow and tell you how it went." He was about to hang up.

"Dominick?"

"Yes?"

"Seriously. Be careful."

Dominick didn't like hearing the concern in her voice. He was sorry that he'd made her upset. "I'll be careful, Margie. I promise."

…....

The worry in her voice was still bothering him as he stood out in the cold, waiting for Shifu.

A few minutes later the red Oldsmobile Calais cruised down the access road and pulled into the parking lot. The driver's oversized frame behind the wheel was unmistakable.

"There he is," Dominick said.

The transmitter broadcast his words to the entire arrest team. He wanted them all to know that he'd spotted the Angel.

Shifu pulled his car into the closest available space to the bank of telephone booths. He emerged from the car, and Dominick saw that he was wearing his street clothes—gray leather jacket over a navy blue shirt and pressed blue jeans. He was wearing his dark glasses, too. The big man walked toward Dominick, avoiding the puddles and stepping over the slush at the curb. They shook hands when they met.

"How ya doing, big guy." Dominick said.

''Not bad.''

Dominick wished he could see Shifu's eyes behind the glasses. He handed Shifu the white paper bag. "Here's the sandwiches. The kid called me last night and again this morning. There's no problem."

Shifu took the bag. "You sure."

"Yeah, yeah."

"Where's your friend now?"

"He's not far from here. I'm gonna go get him." Dominick couldn't read Shifu. He seemed reluctant, annoyed, something. Maybe this was the way he got when he was getting ready to kill. Or else he was suspicious. Dominick hoped that wasn't the case. Just stick with the program. Shifu, he thought. No improvising. Just stick with the program.

No one wanted the Angel of Death to start improvising.

"I'll go get the kid and be back in like fifteen minutes."

Shifu nodded. "Okay. I'll go get the van. It isn't far from here. Just down the next exit. It's just a ten-minute ride."

"What color is it, so I'll know?"

"Blue."

"Now where are you gonna park it so I can bring him right there?"

"Right here. We might as well do it over here out of the way of everybody." Shifu seemed to be getting into it. He didn't seem so reluctant now. Dominick relaxed a bit.

"I'll be sitting in the driver's seat," Shifu continued. "You can't miss it."

Dominick lowered his voice. "Okay, I'm gonna bring him right into the back of the van to let him test the coke."

"Okay."

"Here." Dominick took the crumpled brown paper bag out of his pocket. "Here's the cyanide."

Shifu took the bag and shoved it into his pocket. "Okay."

"You got enough shit there to take care of Hackensack and Paterson. Now I'm gonna bring him back in his car, so afterward I'll take care of the car while you get rid of him. Where are you gonna put him?"

"I'm gonna put him away ... for safekeeping."

Dominick wished to hell he could see Shifu's eyes. He couldn't tell if Shifu was being funny or evasive or what. .

"Okay, everything's all set, right." Then Dominick made like he had just remembered something.

"You got a pair of gloves for me. I didn't bring none."

"Don't worry. I'll give you a pair." He nodded toward his car, and they started walking across the slushy lot.

"Fucking cold," Shifu commented as he zipped up his jacket.

"I know." Dominick was thinking about Robert Carroll's last instructions. He should try to get Shifu to say that he intended to commit murder. Dominick looked at the bag with the sandwiches in Shifu's hand. ''Whattaya gonna do. Put it on the food—"

"Yeah."

Dominick wanted Shifu to elaborate, but he wasn't going to push it. Not at this point. Not when he couldn't see his eyes.

Shifu pulled out his keys and unlocked the trunk of his car. He put the sandwiches and the brown bag with the bottle of cyanide in and started poking around, looking for a pair of gloves for Dominick. He couldn't find any. "I'll get you a pair. Don't worry."

'*Okay. I'll tell you what. When you come back with the van, go get three coffees. I'll pull back over here somewhere." Dominick pointed to a row of empty slots on the far side of the telephone booths.

Shifu shut the trunk. ''You'll see the van right away. It's a conversion van, all dressed up. Two-tone blue. Light blue and dark blue. You won't miss it."

*'Okay, how long will it take you to get back here."

"Twenty minutes."

"All right. I'll be back in exactly half an hour."

"When I see you come in, I'll go in and get the coffees. Then I'll come out and....." Shifu let his words trail off.

"Right."

Dominick wished Shifu would come right out and say it, but he knew from experience that real life bad guys rarely did that. He didn't think Shifu was on to him, though. This just seemed like his normal degree of caution. Normal for a killer, that is.

Shifu got back into his car and started the engine as Dominick walked toward his black Lincoln. As Shifu backed out of his space, Dominick waved, then turned away as he spoke out loud for the transmitter. ''All right, boys, you got the choice here. You can take him now or wait till he comes back and take him with the van. I suggest we let him go and come back. Let him go get the van."

Arresting him with the sandwiches and the simulated cyanide would be fine, but it would be much better if they waited until he actually put the "poison" on the sandwiches. Dominick got into his car and looked at his watch. It was five past nine.

Through the windshield Dominick saw a heavyset man in his early fifties inside one of the phone booths. It was Deputy Chief Bobby Buccino. He was pretending to be on the phone, but in fact, he had an earplug in his covered ear, and he was listening in on Dominick's transmissions. A folded newspaper was taped over his hand. Inside the newspaper he was holding a 9mm automatic. He'd been there the whole time Dominick and Shifu had been there.

In the rearview mirror Dominick could see the unmarked black van where three heavily armed troopers— Detectives Ernie Volkman, Pat Kane, and Dennis Vecchiarelli—were waiting. Ron Donahue was also back there somewhere in another car.

Other investigators from the Attorney General's Office and agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms were scattered around the area. Dominick's best friend, Lieutenant Alan Grieco of the Bergen County Homicide Unit, was back there, too. A plainclothes trooper with a shotgun and another one with an assault rifle were at separate positions nearby.

Uniformed state troopers were parked along the turnpike near the entrance ramps in case additional backups were needed. When Shifu returned, they'd hit him hard and fast. If it all went down the way they'd planned it, there'd be no opportunity for accidents or unpredictable behaviour. No improvising.

Dominick turned the key in the ignition and put the Shark into gear. He had to go get the "rich kid." It wouldn't be long now.