Chapter 12

“HOLY SHIT!”

Charlotte and Beth had tossed the coffee table aside and I could see the room service waiter in the doorway, his face pale and his eyes wide as he took in the carnage. Without a word, he left the cart and ran.

I laughed, then winced as the pain hit. It wasn’t debilitating, I had felt much worse, but it wasn’t fun.

The girls got me bandaged to stop the bleeding and I convinced them to sit me up. I was leaned up against the couch and waved Beth towards the unused room where my clean clothes were stored. She came back, a thoughtful expression on her face and a full set of clothes in her hands.

“Hey Charles, are they all dead?”

Charles had been looking over the three men that lay just inside the door. He looked up and nodded.

“My gun is laying there, somewhere. Can you grab it before the cops get here? I didn’t get a chance to fire it. And I could use some coffee.”

He looked surprised, then he smiled and shook his head.

The pistol was hidden by the coffee table and he slipped it into his waistband for now. The coffee table had several bullet holes in it, but the thick hardwood and prevented me from being hit again. He fingered one for a second and shrugged.

Charlotte brought me a cup of coffee and a Danish, urging me to eat. “You need the sugar, it will help stave off shock.”

I sipped my coffee and nibbled the Danish and a thought crossed my mind.

“They didn’t say a word. I opened the door, thinking it was breakfast and they just shot.”

“They are all Middle Eastern by the looks. I think they are still angry that they missed one.” Charles said. shaking his head.

Drew stuck his head in the door. “Company.”

Two police officers rushed in; guns drawn but not pointed at anyone.

“No one move. Understand? Until we get this straightened out, just relax. If you are armed, say so, but do not, under any circumstance reach for your weapon.” The older cop said, the tone of command in his voice made it clear he was in control here. All three of my security detail raised their hands, indicating they were armed and the two cops paled a bit.

“One at a time, please remove your weapon and set it on the ground, then back up over by the couch. You first, miss.” the officer said, pointing his handgun in Beth’s direction, but not at her.

Beth left one hand in the air and, with exaggerated motions, moved her jacket aside. With her thumb and forefinger, she pulled her handgun from the holster and laid it on the small table by the door. “One shot fired, officer. Thirteen in the mag, one in the pipe.” she told him, then raising her hand again, moved over to stand beside me.

Charles followed the same routine, but laid his handgun on the floor and then turning so they could see what he was doing, he lifted his jacket and extracted my handgun as well, pushing both far away from the slowly spreading bloodstain from the man he was standing over. “Two shots fired, twelve in the mag, one in the pipe. The second belongs to Mr. Weaver, no shots fired.” he told them, then moved over next to Beth.

Charlotte, who had been leaning over me and taking my pulse, slowly stood and did the same, stepping forward to lay her handgun next to Charles. “No shots fired, full mag.”

The cops looked at me, but I was naked except for the bloody robe over my lap. I had a half-eaten Danish in my hand and a half-full cup of coffee balanced precariously on my thigh. My other hand was missing. I just shrugged. “I didn’t shoot anyone.”

The cops seemed to relax and the older one actually cracked a smile at me.

There were more rushing footfalls in the hallway and two other officers showed up in the doorway, only to be stopped by the younger of the first pair. Behind the new officers, a paramedic stuck his head around the corner and saw me.

“I need to get in there.” he said, pointing at me.

“Give us a minute to secure the scene.”

The older officer used a cell phone to snap a dozen shots of the bodies, the guns and even a group shot of us before he would let the paramedics in.

“Riley, check these three. Waste of time but we follow the regs.” he said, then turned to us. “Folks, I am Sgt. Meers, NYPD. Want to tell me what happened here?”

Charles stepped forward, holding his hand down, palm towards me, obviously not wanting me to speak.

“I am Charles Bolan, team leader for the protection detail assigned to our principal, David Weaver. We are licensed and bonded to carry firearms. You will understand if my first concern is the protection of my employer, and that protection extends to not exposing him to legal liability. We request that our lawyer be present and we will not answer any questions at this time.”

The Sgt looked at him for a moment, then shrugged. “Not my problem, I guess. The homicide guys can deal with you three.”

I tapped Charles on the leg and he bent down so I could whisper. “Tell him to call De Blasio, we were his guests at the birthday party last night.” I said with a grin.

“Sgt, my client asked me to have you call the Mayor. He was a guest of the Mayor at his birthday party last night and was told to call if he needed anything while he was in town.” Charles said, keeping his tone matter-of-fact.

The Sgt just groaned and shook his head. “Perfect, just fucking perfect.” He turned to his partner. “Let the paramedics in. Any of those guys alive?” His partner shook his head and then waved to the waiting ambulance crew.

The men came in, gingerly stepping over the corpses and the pools of blood, avoiding the weapons as well, and crouched down next to me.

They removed the bandage Charlotte had applied and took a look at the wound, easing me forward to see the rear. “Nice.” he said softly, nodding.

“Okay, we are going to start you on some fluids to help with the blood you lost, but the bleeding has already slowed and whoever patched you up did a good job. We need to take you in, get that hole cleaned out and stitched up, but you are in good shape.” He talked while practiced hands pulled out a clear bag of fluid, attached a rubber line and prepared and IV needle. He gripped my upper arm in his hand and told me to pump my fist a couple of times, then slid the needle in place on the first try. In another second he had the needle taped down and the fluid running, laying the bag on the couch behind me so that gravity would feed the fluid correctly.

“You hurt anywhere else?” he asked, shining a light in my eyes.

“Dizzy, a little light headed and beginning to feel a little queasy, but otherwise uninjured.”

He nodded and me and stood up, seeing his partner double-checking the bodies on the floor. “Anyone else hurt?”

“Nope, just me. Listen, Beth has some clothes for me over there by the door, she had to drop them when the officers came in. Can she help me get dressed?

The paramedic looked to the Sgt who nodded, his cell phone to his ear and, in turn, the paramedic nodded to Beth.

As Beth went to retrieve the clothes, I tapped Charles on the leg again. He crouched down, slowly so as to not alarm the officers. “We need to protect the girls. Charlotte didn’t fire her gun, so send her in with the girls, have her move them to another room. If you haven’t already, call Wendy Duff.” He nodded, then talked quietly to Charlotte.

I dug my phone out of the pants from last night while Beth, blushing a little helped me pull on underwear, pants, shoes and socks. She withheld the polo shirt for now. I dialed the girl’s number, hoping the nice thick door and walls would prevent anyone out here from hearing their phone ring.

“Uncle Dave?”

“Shhh ... girls, be very quiet and wait in there. I am just fine, barely a scratch, but I will have to go to the hospital to get it cleaned out. Charles and Beth both fired their guns, so it is certain they will have to go to the police station. Charlotte should be able to stay here with you, and she will move you to another room. I am calling your mom, and I will fly her up here if we need to. Everything is going to be okay, I promise.”

“We were so scared for you! What happened? Why were they shooting at you?”

“Ladies, listen to me. I don’t know yet, but I promise I will fill you in. For now, it is more important to me that you two are safe. I couldn’t live with myself if either of you got hurt. Just stay put, listen to Charlotte, okay?”

“Okay, Uncle Dave. We love you so much!”

“I love you too. Let me call your Mom and then you can call her okay?”

The phone call with Sophia did not go so well.

“WHAT? Where are the girls, are they hurt? Are they safe? What the fuck is going on, David?”I calmed her down and told her what had happened, and that they were a little scared by the noise, but didn’t see anything and were nowhere near the altercation.”

“Altercation my ass! You said you got fucking shot!”

Damn ... she rarely every cussed. She was as angry and upset as I had ever seen her.

“Sophia, damnit, listen to me. They are fine. You know I would give my life to protect them. They are perfectly okay. Call Abby, have her book you a flight. She can give you Charlotte’s number and you have the girls’ numbers. Do me a favor, make sure Wendy Duff is coming with you. I might need a mouthpiece to hurry things along. Sophia, I love you, and everything is going to be okay.”

“I love you too, you asshole. Scaring me again. Damn you, David. Don’t do this to me. I will be there in a few hours.”

It took more than a half hour for the next wave of officials to show up. Two detectives followed by a man in a suit that cost more than the combined cops in the room’s month salary, followed closely behind.

“Mr. Weaver?” The suit asked, barging in and mincing over the dead bodies, his face pale. “The Mayor sent me. He is on his way, but he was at the shore and it will be a while before a helicopter can get him here. He said he will go directly to the hospital.”

“Please tell him I said thanks.” I replied, wondering what else I was supposed to say.

He turned to the paramedic and started peppering him with questions, his phone in his hand.

The detectives stepped forward, looking around at the scene. “Christ, what a mess. Who are the stiffs, anyone know?” he got a bunch of head shakes. “What about the shooters?” The Sgt pointed to Charles and Beth.

“Huh. Nice shooting. Three head shots.” He looked around again. He pointed to Beth’s gun, then Charles and Charlottes. “Yours?” he asked, looking at Charles and getting a nod.

“Permits, please.”

Once he got the basics, he seemed more relaxed. “Okay, you will have to come down for statements and the guns will be held for now, standard policy. The third one is yours, right?” he asked, pointing to Charlotte who nodded in response. “No shots fired?”

He bent down and slipped on a pair of latex gloves, then examined the handgun, dropping the magazine and clearing the live round from the chamber. He examined the chamber and held the barrel up near his nose, sniffing.

“Okay, no worries there.” He handed the pistol to Charlotte, asking her to holster it, then handed her the magazine and loose round, asking her to stick them in a pocket. “Please do not remove the weapon from its holster or load the weapon while we are here.” he instructed and got a head nod. He took a photo of her identification and license, then handed them back to her.

“You are David Weaver?” he asked me and I nodded, fishing my wallet from the pocket of the bloody robe. Thankfully, it was on the opposite side pocket and I was shot on the left.

I handed him my ID and my licenses that stated I was both an Executive with the security firm and a licensed concealed handgun carrier.

He moved over and repeated the process with my pistol, after verifying which was which, but he put it in his pocket. “You can get this back at the station after you give your statement, assuming you are cleared, of course.”

“The Mayor is airborne, Mr. Weaver.” the mayor’s man chimed in, giving me a thumbs up.

“Detective, there are two ladies in the other room. They were sleeping and didn’t see the shooting, only emerging afterwards to be sent right back into the room again. I would like to get them and my employers possessions, out of there and safely into another room with as little publicity as possible.” Charlotte said softly.

He stared at her for a moment, his eyes flicking towards the Mayor’s man. “You understand that I need to verify that, and I need to see what you are taking out? This room is a crime scene.”

“Technically, this room, and not that room, behind the closed and locked door, is a crime scene.” she said softly so only the detective and the three of us could hear her.

He seemed to think it over for a moment, then shrugged and waved towards the room. “Keep them there for now, but you can join them.”

I addressed the detective. “Detective... ?”

“Connoly, Homicide.”

“Detective Connoly, thank you for your help. My protective detail and I will cooperate fully. My nieces, whom I brought to New York for to celebrate their birthdays with the Mayor, are only fifteen. You would not be able to question them anyway, not without their mother and a lawyer here.”

He stared at me for a moment and I could see his mind working. His forehead creased, a frown appearing for a moment, but he seemed to have come to a decision.

“I will need to see ID, and we want to see what is carried out, but as long as they are staying here until their mother collects them, then I don’t have a problem with it. You might want to have them wait until we can cover the bodies. The coroner should be here soon.” he said, then turned to talk to the other detective.

Charles looked down at me, his face unreadable. He shrugged and walked over to the room, knocking and then speaking quietly to Charlotte.

“Mr. Weaver, shouldn’t we be getting you to the hospital? You are bleeding, for heaven’s sake!” The mayors man still looked a little queasy, but he had his phone to his ear as he talked to me.

“Not until my nieces are somewhere safe.” I said firmly, making sure he realized I was deadly serious.

“Mr. Mayor...” I heard him say as he turned away.

More people were milling around in the hall, and another uniformed officer stepped in. All the cops in the room stood a little straighter, moved a little stiffer. The man looked around, spoke with the Sergeant for a moment then the detective, before coming over to crouch down in front of me.

“Mr. Weaver? I am Captain Allen and the Mayor called the commissioner who called me. I got a little of your background, and about the attack that led you to getting security for yourself. This,” he waved his hands at the bodies, “ looks like it may be connected. In any case, I was instructed to apologize to you, from His Honor, for this attack happening in his peaceful city.” The sarcasm in his voice was so thick I could have used it for a blanket.

I just grinned at him and shook my head.

He nodded and continued. “Now, I understand your nieces, is it? Your nieces are with you and you want them away from all of this.”

“That’s right, Captain. At least this happened after the birthday party last night so the whole trip wasn’t ruined, but I don’t want them exposed to ... this.” I said, duplicating his wave at the mess.

He looked at me for a moment then nodded. “I have three daughters.” he said, then stood and started barking orders.

“Sergeant, strip the bed in that second bedroom and bring whatever towels you can find. Carefully cover those bodies and any blood stains. Everyone not directly involved in the investigation, clear the room. In fact, clear the floor and place a guard on the elevator and stairwells.” He turned to the paramedic.

“As soon as his nieces are gone, I don’t care if you have to knock him out, Mr. Weaver goes to the hospital. I will detail a car to escort you and provide security.” The paramedic nodded, and smiled down at me.

In moments, the bodies were covered and only the two detectives, among the police officers, remained in the room, other than the Captain, of course.

He pointed at Charles and Beth. “If you two will accompany one of these detectives to the precinct, we can get your statements or wait for your lawyer, whatever you decide best.”

Once they were gone, he looked around and nodded, striding over to the closed bedroom door and knocking.

Charlotte opened the door, but was blocking the doorway.

“Ma’am, you and the young ladies can leave, but I would like the Detective to take a look through the bags. Procedure, I am afraid. You have been informed that you need to remain here, at the hotel, until the girls’ mother arrives?”

Charlotte nodded, and turned to motion the girls forward.

They emerged from the room, pale faced and eyes red. They both rushed over to me and I saw the Captain roll his eyes, but he didn’t say anything.

“Uncle Dave, are you really okay? Why aren’t you at the hospital? Won’t they let you go? You are bleeding!”

“Girls, calm down. I am okay. The bleeding has stopped and I wanted you two safe, first. Just grab your presents, forget anything else, and take them out in the hall. Charlotte is going to take you to her room until your mom arrives. Then you can come down to the hospital if I am not done there. Now, you go and listen to Charlotte.”

Both girls hugged me and kissed me on the cheek before running back to the room and grabbing their shopping bags. Charlotte was carrying their overnight bags in one hand, leaving the other hand free.

Out in the hall, I could see the detective rummaging through the bags but it appeared to be more pro forma than because he thought he would find something. When he waved them on, I turned to nod at the paramedic.

“Give me a hand here, will you?” I asked, waving my stump with a grin. He helped me to my feet, but was shaking his head.

“I’ll let you walk out, otherwise we would have to move bodies, but once in the hall you have to get on the gurney.”

I thought about arguing the matter but decided it wasn’t worth it.

When we arrived at the hospital, a tense thirty-minute drive later, the Mayor was already waiting and flanked by another high-ranking police officer, this one with stars on his collar, and two other suits.

“David, you know when I said to call if you needed anything, it was a polite fiction, right?” De Blasio said with a smile, laying his hand on my shoulder as he walked beside the gurney.

“Sorry to pull you away from, well, where ever it was you were. I was more worried about my nieces.”

“I wanted an excuse to get out anyway.” De Blasio said with a wink. “I told my assistant to stay there at the hotel, and to make sure a car was at the airport for your sister when she comes in. He got the arrival information, after much arguing, I might add, from your security detail. I was asked to tell you that she is bringing more security with her.”

He paused while they transferred me to an exam table. The doctor shot looks of disgust at the men in his way, but kept his mouth shut on the topic.

“What’s this all about David?”

“I wish I could say. My lawyer is on the way in and her firm has some contacts in DC. I am going to see if they can find out. All I know is that this is the third time men of Middle Eastern persuasion have tried to kill me though, to be fair, the first time it wasn’t personal.” I told him, raising my stump to make a point.

He just shook his head. “Well, the Deputy Commissioner here,” De Blasio said, indicating the uniformed man, “assures me that he has a half dozen officers on hand to make sure it doesn’t happen again while you are here. I’ll check on your girls, make sure they are safe as well.” he said, stepping out of the room.

The emergency room staff cleaned the wound and stitched up the small holes, front and back. “Just a flesh wound, didn’t find anything nasty inside and didn’t even have time to expand. I’ll write you a script for some antibiotics and you can have it checked out by your doctor. I am going to give you an injection now to kick start the antibiotics. I want to get an X-ray of your chest, that is a nasty looking bruise, but I don’t feel anything out of place. Your heart sounds fine and you are breathing okay. Once we get a look at the X-ray, assuming we don’t find anything, you can be released.”

It was three more hours before they released me, and the NYPD gave me a ride down to the precinct to wait for my lawyer and to give them a statement.

Another hour wait until Wendy showed up, another suit with her, this one a younger man, nattily dressed and with a beat up leather attaché in his hand.

“David, what the hell have you gotten in to this time?” Wendy said, in lieu of a greeting, I suppose.

“Ordered room service but I got three guys with guns. I hid while my security team dealt with them, but I got a scratch in the process.”

“Scratch? They told me you got shot!”

“Winged, Wendy, seriously, it’s not a big deal. I am more worried about who these guys are and why they were gunning for me. Three men, bearded, armed, looked like Middle Eastern, but could have been from Russia for all I know. Any chance you can get your boss to call his relative in DC? The State Department didn’t come see me for nothing, after all.”

Wendy looked thoughtful, then nodded. “I can ask.”

“Mr. Weaver, pleasure to meet you, though I would have wished it were under better circumstances. I am Milton Townes, and since Ms. Duff is not licensed to practice law in New York State, her firm has asked mine to provide you with legal services in their stead. Assuming, of course, that is acceptable?”

“Any port in a storm, Mr. Townes.” I nodded.

“Well, we need to write out a statement about what you know, then you should be free to leave. The detective I spoke to on the phone during the drive here informed me that the Deputy Commissioner has made his wishes clear on the matter. Should you be needed later, they will contact Ms. Duff’s firm. Now, if you would?” he asked, handing over a legal pad and several pencils.

I wrote down exactly what happened thought I hesitated before I put down that I puked. They might want to know who that mess belonged to.

It took almost two hours to get the paperwork done, and part of that was because I insisted that my handgun be returned. Charles and Beth were done before I was and, like me, the NYPD was handling them with kid gloves.

Sophia had arrived at the hotel about the same time as Wendy arrived at the station, and she was sitting with the girls and Charlotte when we came in.

She rushed to me and, carefully, gave me a hug and a kiss. “You look pretty good for someone who was in a gunfight today.” she said, looking as if she wanted to cry. She was pushed out of the way by the twins who got a hug and a kiss of their own.

“What’s going on, Uncle Dave? Are you okay? Can we go home?”

“I am okay. A little sore, but okay. We can all go home now, or as soon as I call and charter a plane.”

It took less time than I imagined to get a plane booked, and I told the girls and Sophia all about the hospital and the police station on the way to the airport. It was hard to believe that it was only five in the evening. Today had been at least three days long, I was sure of it!

Once we were airborne, the girls settled down and got out their toys. After making sure I had my watch on, they left me to sit and talk with their mother.

“You are coming home with us, David.” she said, her tone telling me it was useless to argue but I had to try.

“Sophia, the less I am around you until I figure out what the hell is going on, the safer you and the girls will be.”

“Bullshit. Don’t argue with me on this, David. You can’t win. I spent hours talking to Charlotte and on the phone with Mark and Elaine Nelson. They are taking it personally, now that you are a junior partner, more so that if someone attacked one of their regular clients. They are going to have you so hemmed in that you won’t be able to fart in public without one of them being there with a chemical detector to analyze it.”

I laughed, then winced, then scowled at her.

“That doesn’t mean that I am not putting you in danger. Sophia, that scared me, but what scared me more was that the girls might have gotten hurt. I couldn’t stand it if that happened. I feel the same about you! In fact, I am giving Abby a leave of absence or, if she prefers, she can work at the office. I thought I might take a little trip to Aspen, or Miami, or anywhere away from the people I love.”

“If you love us, then let us help you.” she said, pulling out the big guns. “The girls would never forgive you if you just take off.”

I decided to stay with Sophia and the girls for a couple of days. I bet that surprised you!

Once we were locked up tight in her apartment, two armed guards outside the door and a look-out in the lower lobby, I slumped down on to the couch. “Anyone up for pizza? Or subs? Or anything, really. I haven’t eaten since that half a Danish this morning and I am starved!”

Sophia gave me a look. A ‘You got shot and you haven’t eaten? What the hell is wrong with you?’ look if I ever saw one. She bustled into the kitchen and was back in a flash with a roast beef on rye and a glass of orange juice.

“If only you were barefoot and pregnant, you would be the perfect wife.” I said, though she didn’t find it quite as funny as I did.

Once the girls saw me situated and comfortable and they were sure I didn’t need anything at all, they started bombarding me with little hearts, smilies and other nonsense. My wrist was buzzing every thirty seconds as they giggled and sent super-secret messages to each other and to me.

My favorite was from Mina, “You owe me one, but it can wait until your stitches come out, I guess.” with a little frowny face.

Sophia finally settled down and cuddled up with me on the couch. “I called all the girls. They wanted to rush over, but agreed to come by tomorrow instead. Angela said to tell you that she would see what she could find out about the investigation, but she didn’t think it would be much. Inter-departmental cooperation is not an NYPD strong suit.”

“Thank you for calling them. I should have done it so they heard it from me, but I was worried about the twins ... and if you were going to kill me or not.” I said, laying my head on her shoulder.

“You had no way of knowing they were after you, right? I mean, you wouldn’t have taken the girls to New York if you had known.”

“I really didn’t! That thing at the restaurant looked like a chance meeting. I think it was chance. This time, it was deliberate. There is no way in hell I would endanger any of you.”

“I know, but I am a mother. It is my prerogative to worry. Now, tell me about last night. The girls told me about the Mayor, and about getting on the stage with Adele. They even told me about her singing your song! What I want to know is your impression of afterwards.” she said, her voice soft.

“They told you?”

“David, they barely talked of anything else, once Wendy called and told us she was meeting you at the police station because the hospital had released you. Um, speaking of talk, you may want to have a word with Charlotte. She probably knows more than we would wish.”

“Crap. Okay, ignoring that for the moment, talk to me about the girls.”

“David, you would think that they were the ones who discovered sex. They were over the moon! I was so proud of them, and of you. Thank you, baby brother, for taking care of my babies. It sounds like it was everything they could hope for.”

“It was ... magic. Really. Never experienced anything in my life like that and I doubt I ever will again. I did find a fool-proof way to tell them apart. I mean, other than the small mole on Amy’s neck.” I said, laughing.

“Mina took great joy in embarrassing Amy about that.” Sophia laughed and snuggled closer. “I wish I could have been there.”

“I know. You would have been touched. They are amazing young women in every sense of the word.”

We were quiet for a while, just watching the girls play with their laptops and watches.

“Mina says you owe her one, but refused to say what that was about.” Sophia whispered, turning her head to look at me from the corner of her eye.

“Well, then I won’t either. Sorry, sis. I don’t talk about what you and I do together and I won’t with the girls.”

“Spoilsport.”

The next day was full of worrying women, surprise media coverage and frustration.

First came the invasion. Angela was at the door bright and early, having called and woke Sophia and I up, since I slept in with her rather than displace one of the twins.

She stepped through the door and held me at arm’s-length, scrutinizing me from head to toe. When nothing obvious presented itself, she leaned in and gave me a kiss, just ticking my top lip with her tongue, then grabbed the bottom hem of my shirt and pulled it up and off over my head.

She ran her fingers, barely touching, over the bruise on my sternum, then hovered over the bandage on my side without touching it at all. She looked up at me, anger in her eyes.