Chapter 9: Cast the First Stone

The Offices of Kopf & Bradley were on the fortieth floor looking down on Madison Avenue. It was Election day in the off-year as Susan Singleton and three other partners met with Edward Kincade; his executive assistant, Carrie Wilson; and Tony Greco, the governor’s political advisor.

Fred Bradley as the senior partner present was summarizing what the parties had agreed would be the ongoing strategy.

“Susan will be on leave of absence for the next year through the gubernatorial election. She will be exclusively employed by the committee to re-elect Kincade. Tom and I will form a presidential exploratory committee and begin raising funds. This committee will be totally separate and will have no relationship with the governor or his re-election committee.”

“When do you think that you can dispense with Susan’s services?” Kincade asked.

“Well, hopefully, we can have her other clients transferred by the first week in December,” Tom replied.

“Good, the exploration committee should be set up and ready to go by Christmas. That will give us two full years to prepare for the first primary,” Tony said.

Throughout the meeting, Carrie was respectfully quiet. She had nothing to add to the conversation and was merely taking noted for her boss. However, there was this nagging feeling that the whole presidential campaign might yet be stillborn. She had been sleeping with Jimmy O’Reilly for well over a year now. She had decided to press her advantage when his wife left early to pursue her Doctors Without Borders mission.

Jimmy was the man she wanted for herself, and she had enlisted him in the mission to avoid the festering child sex abuse scandal. It was a story that could undo all the governor’s grand plans, or at least that’s what Ed Kincade told her. If Jimmy could succeed, everything could work out for Kincade and by association for herself. She could make sure that Jimmy was properly rewarded and tie herself closer to her lover than she already was.

The trouble was Jimmy did not seem to be succeeding. He had hit a stone wall with some woman in Brooklyn, and he was getting stiff competition from the husband of the only other woman in the room. Carrie didn’t understand how Susan could sit discussing a presidential bid ignoring what she must know about a scandal that involved the governor’s father and her husband. Steven Fitzgerald was actively trying to blow the thing up. Wasn’t he?

This morning she was worried about the grilling she had taken the night before from Jose Martin-Prez. The assembly majority leader knew too much. He knew Susan Fitzgerald had been hired. He knew that Steven Fitzgerald was working on something significant and most troubling he knew that Jimmy O’Reilly was working for the governor. The man who wanted to be speaker was no friend of the governor. How could Mrs. Fitzgerald sit there so calmly?

For her part, Susan could actively feel the eyes of the governor’s assistant on her. She thought that perhaps the girl was bothered by her relationship with Tony. She had been actively discouraging the man for the last ten months. But Tony would not take no for an answer. In fairness, it was a no laced with a lot of highly protected sex.

Susan was determined to save her marriage and get pregnant. The two were not necessarily connected, but they ran along parallel lines. Was it too much for Mr. Greco to understand that she was ready to settle into domesticity with the man she was actually married to? Did Carrie know something about Tony’s intentions that might upset the plan for her to join the current gubernatorial campaign and eventually the presidential bid? It was troubling, but Susan would have to wait and see how matters fell out.

Carrie Wilson was only a secondary concern. While she kept a smile on her face, Susan was sick at heart. She could not push from her mind, the worry that something was about to happen to her husband. She felt helpless all the more because she could not discuss the problem with her husband for fear of disclosing that she had been having him followed.

How had her life come to this horrible place? Her husband had been keeping the secret of his childhood sexual abuse from her, and now he was sleeping with another woman. Susan had no illusions; this Lynda person was intent on stealing her husband. But, all that paled at the thought that something might happen to her Steven.

Another woman might have blamed Steven for placing himself, so unnecessarily, in physical danger but not Susan Singleton. She had her faults, but cowardice was not one of them. If Steven was taking a risk, then there was a good reason for it, and it was her job to support and protect him.

“Susan, are you good with that?”

Susan realized the governor was speaking to her, “Can you make the move to my staff by the end of the year?” the governor asked again.

“Yes, that should be more than doable.”

The meeting eventually broke up, and Susan’s partners were well pleased. Neither Carrie nor Tony looked happy. As Carrie left with the Governor, Tony lingered. He followed Susan to her personal office, and as soon as the door closed, he grabbed Susan and kissed her.

“Please, someone could come in. My secretary doesn’t always knock before she sticks her head in,” Susan said.

‘That’s just an excuse. When are you going to stop fighting the feelings we have for each other?”

“When you acknowledge that I’m married.”

Tony was frustrated. The woman refused to abandon her current spouse. The hatred that Tony had for Steven Fitzgerald grew more intense each day.

“So, you’re refusing to marry me?” he demanded.

“I can’t do otherwise. I swore until death do us part. Steven has done nothing and can do nothing that would cause me to take back that commitment.”

“Fine, have it your way. Till death do you part,” Tony said and stormed out of her office.

Carrie had used the opportunity of Tony’s absence to question the governor, “about the matter that you have Jimmy investigating,” she began as they entered the elevator alone.

“Worried, are you?” the governor replied.

“Yes. The majority leader knows that Jimmy is working for you. I fear that I may have let something slip in front of Ray.”

“Carrie, don’t worry and have faith. We have done all we can. Now it is up to Jimmy. If the good Lord wants me to be president, he will succeed.”

And that, as far as the governor was concerned, settled the matter.

After she divested herself of Mr. Greco, Susan called to make a lunch date with her sister. Mary Singleton did not often have lunch with her younger sister. The two had never been close. The age difference was nearly fourteen years. Moreover, Susan knew they had been raised quite differently. Mary was the oldest child. Her parents had hovered over her until she was a late teen. Puberty, their mother Kathrine would say, was hard on Mary. By which she meant that even among the sex-crazed DeVoe’s, Mary DeVoe Singleton was a notable libertine. Then she met her husband, and things seemed to change, and she became the faithful wife and mother of three beautiful and brilliant daughters.

A wall street lawyer in one of the top three firms, Mary was respected, admired, and envied by all. But, the perception of Mary as a faithful wife was far less than accurate. Mary as an adult used her exceptional looks first to get ahead in life and later to stay ahead and ease the boredom that can come with success. She had the perfect life until she didn’t. Like her sister, there existed only one small wrinkle; she was married to a good man and one she loved deeply.

The sisters had their lunch date in an inexpensive Greek restaurant near Chambers street. Coming into the restaurant, Susan found her sister already waiting.

“You look like I feel,” Susan said taking in the thin, drawn countenance of her older sibling.

“Well, I have an excuse what’s yours?” Mary responded.

“Things still unsettled with Jason?” Susan asked.

“Not from his view. He’s left me and has no intention of returning.”

“After twenty years and three kids.”

“After sixteen years of infidelity and discovering that his youngest daughter is the biological child of another.”

“That’s still ridiculous. Tara was his favorite, and she loves him. Who cares where the sperm came from.”

“Jason was an easy-going man, but I seem to have pushed him too far. That last affair of mine with Frank Patterson was a mistake on so many levels. I thought that Jason would kill him when he caught us together,” Mary said.

“Frank Patterson, the lawyer who works in Albany now?”

“Yes, after Jason caught him with me Jack Cardigan forced him out of the firm. You know Jack. What you do in your personal life is nobody business unless you make a scandal out of it.”

“I guess you got off lucky.”

“Hardly, I lost my husband, but if you’re referring to my position in the firm, well, to be honest, they never fire a senior partner for anything short of murder, and Jack is a bit old school. It’s never the woman’s fault. The man does the seducing not the other way around.”

“Frank has sure had his troubles with women or rather their husbands.”

“What does that mean?”

“He bedded my friend Laura Sullivan with the promise of a promotion, and when her husband, Patrick found out, he took Frank to the cleaners. I think my Steven had a hand in the retribution.”

“Poor Frank, he’s rather enjoyable in bed, but sure an unlucky soul with husbands. Still, Jack took care to see he got a good replacement birth and nice severance. Jack was kind of his mentor prior to that. They’re still close in spite of what happened.”

“How is Jack taking your current problems?” Susan asked.

Susan knew that Jack was the natural father of Mary’s youngest daughter, Tara. It was an old affair and would have been just a forgotten office romance between a senior lawyer and an ambitious junior, but for the current pending divorce.

“He’s making the best of it, and hopefully he can get to know Tara better now that the cat is out of the bag. By the way, he is sending a contribution to the Governor. Jack worked at one time for the elder Kincade. I think they may have been close, but Jack doesn’t speak of it.”

“I’ll tell the governor, but what will you tell Tara. I mean how do you explain it.”

Mary took a handkerchief and wiped a tear away, “I didn’t need to she already knew. Apparently, only my husband was ignorant.”

Susan reached across the table to touch her sister’s hand as the rather lackadaisical waiter came to take their order. The waiter’s interruption was welcome because Susan could see her sister slipping into melancholy.

What a mess, Susan thought. A long-term marriage destroyed by an old birth control slip up and a bit of sex. Jason was a good man. Certainly, such a man would not destroy his family and the daughter he loved most over ancient sins for which neither was responsible. Susan knew that Mary’s husband loved her more then he loved his own life, and his children more than his wife. Could he throw all he loved away because of his pride? More troubling, would her Steven do the same? Was he already doing that? Had she pushed him into the arms of another woman? Given him the impetus to risk his own life?

The waiter took their order, and Mary broke in on her sister thoughts, “How are you doing with the baby quest?”

“No luck yet, but then my husband seems to be away a lot.”

“And he’s found another?”

Mary had put Susan on to the private investigator. She knew of the possible threat to Susan’s marriage from another woman.

“Yes, some midget prosecutor. What he sees in her only he and God know.”

“Midget?”

“the woman is four feet seven.”

“Maybe a better height for Steven.”

“My height has never been a problem. Steven has a presence that makes up for his size. No, it’s something else. Clearly, this is some reaction to my affair.”

“Don’t you mean affairs. As in, how many?”

“Don’t go there, Sis. Besides, that’s all a thing of the past. I think I finally shed the current asshole just before I called you for lunch. I think he finally got the message that I was married and intent on staying that way.”

“You think that you can go cold turkey?”

“I don’t know. What I do know is that Steven means everything to me, and I want his babies. So, I have to give monogamy a try. I just wish I was pregnant already.”

Mary reached into her purse and extracted a card. She slid this over the table to her sister.

“What’s this,” Susan asked reading the name Evelin Price-Bennet, M.D. in crisp black type on the card.

“She is an exceptional gynecologist. When you hadn’t called after the first six months of your baby quest with good news, I did some checking and found you someone who is notable for helping things along.”

“You think I need to see her?”

“Why not? it couldn’t hurt.”

Susan took the card and decided that with Tony history; it was time that she got on with her life. If she got pregnant fast enough, perhaps she could persuade her husband to return to the wife who loved him.

The day was sunny and clear. D.A. Patrick Sullivan was doing better than expected for a Democrat in a two to one Republican county. The man wasn’t a bad politician, but he was still headed for a loss. He slogged all day from one polling site to the next. He had a little entourage including Sheriff Deputy John Brant. They started in the countryside and worked toward the city. Just after five, they reached the Polish Community Center. Everyone was tired, and they planned to stop for dinner after this last stop.

While Sullivan shook hands with the poll workers and then visited outside with the local democrat captain and his crew, Brant stopped to say hi to the PBA wives selling baked goods to support the food bank. It was just a momentary deflection, but it was enough. Thank God for the hard-exterior walls that magnified the roar of the motorcycle.

Brandt exited the building at a run just in time to get off one shot. It was like no shot he had ever taken on the range. A near impossible shot with a pistol from above against a fast-moving target. He was kneeling on the building steps when he fired, and he hit the target. The bike careened forward hitting Sullivan and throwing him into a parked car. As Brandt rushed toward Sullivan’s still body, a half-dozen phones were calling 911.

It opened the news broadcasts at 10:00 and 11:00 followed immediately by the election results. Sullivan had lost the election, but he was the hero D.A. by the time the morning papers came out. Brandt had followed the ambulance to the Medical center cursing his own carelessness. At the hospital, there was little news. The perp was dead at the scene, and already the rumor was spreading that it had been e vengeance hit by a biker drug gang against the crusading D.A., but Brant wasn’t buying that. Whoever did this knew where they would be and when they would get there.

Sullivan’s estranged wife showed up at the hospital all tears and remorse. Brant wasn’t buying that either. If she had loved the man so much why was she playing around behind his back? Just then, the Governor came in with his aids Carrie Wilson and Tony Greco. As the governor went to console the grieving wife, Greco came over to Brandt to ask about the condition of Sullivan.

“Would you know how he is doing?” Greco asked.

“He’s in critical condition, but they say they expect him to live,” Brandt replied.

Greco took this news very somber, but when informed the governor was all encouragement, “we must give thanks that our Pat has survived,” the governor said giving Laura’s hand a squeeze.

The hearing on a stay for a rather routine foreclosure was held in Syracuse on election day. The federal courts were in session, but not very busy because of the election. Jimmy O’Reilly represented the homeowners, and some faceless firm from Long Island was represented by a kid who worked from his car on a per diem basis. Seventy-five bucks an appearance and two for a hundred. All he did was take notes while the Chief Judge of the Northern District grilled Jimmy on his case.

“You contend the decision of the Bankruptcy Judge is wrong Mr. O’Reilly,”

“Yes Judge, I have an admission from the bank’s representative in another case that they created certain ownership documents,” Jimmy said.

“You mean forged?”

“Technically yes.”

“Well, in the absence of any affidavit from a bank official and over the opposition of the bank’s attorney, I’ll grant the request for a stay and set this down for a full hearing next week provided the parties have not settled,” the Judge concluded without even looking at the hapless appearance attorney. Everyone in the courtroom knew that before the hearing the bank would rewrite and reinstate the mortgage. It had become a routine.

Jimmy was only vexed that he had been required to drive all the way to Syracuse from Albany, but that was the bank’s strategy. Settle if you had to but make the homeowner work for it. It was still broad daylight as Jimmy walked from the modern Federal Courthouse to where he had parked his Civic on a side street. There were few people about in what is a depressed part of a struggling city.

The SUV pulled up, and two overly large men got out. They made purposely for Jimmy O’Reilly.

“Mr. Bolzano wishes to speak to you,” said the smaller of the two men.

“We’re talking Salvatore Bolzano,” Jimmy replied knowing full well that Lefty Bolzano was the man they were referring to. The men merely nodded that he was correct.

Salvatore got his name not from criminal activity, but from little league some sixty years before. One of three boys on the team name Sal he became Sal the lefty because he was left-handed. Sal was a good player even attaining a place in AA ball before he was forced into more serious endeavors, in the field of criminal activity. Sal the Lefty was no minor leaguer.

“Well, if you give me the address, I’ll drive right over,” O’Reilly said knowing they had no intention of doing so.

“No problem, we’ll drive you,” said the smaller of the two men, while the larger grabbed Jimmy by the elbow.

Still stalling Jimmy said, “My car is at a meter. I don’t want it towed.”

“We’ll take good care of it,” the larger man said as he shoved the reluctant O’Reilly into the back seat of the SUV.

Forty-five minutes later they were pushing Jimmy out of the van in Oriskany in front of a Bar & Grill called Jonney’s. The place had seen better days but clearly not at all recently. They led him through the bar room and out a back door that led to a long sloping corridor. Halfway down his abductors stopped at a door marked private.

A knock brought a click and popped the door open. They led him in and then exited closing the door behind them.

“Good afternoon, Jim,” said Salvatore Bolzano from behind an old-style, cheap metal desk.

The room was basically bare but for a few sticks of furniture. It had no window and was clearly an interior room surrounded on all sides by other rooms. Whatever sounds had been drifting down the hallway from the bar ceased the moment the door closed.

“Hello, Mr. Bolzano,” Jimmy replied.

“Oh, not so formal, I’m not your little league coach now,” Sal Bolzano said, “Call me Sal. You’re a man now, and please take a seat.”

“Ok,” Jimmy said taking one of the hard-back chairs before Sal’s desk. Lefty Bolzano was a man in his late sixties with the physique and stamina of a man twenty years younger. He was no more than average height, but he filled any room he was in. His once handsome features had become stately with age. He was an impressive figure.

Sal began by asking after Jimmy’s family and complimenting him on his wife and beautiful daughters. The way Sal asked said he knew about the difficult relationship O’Reilly now had with his wife and the cause of the difficulties but was too polite to mention these disagreeable facts. He then launched into a discussion of his own family and how little Sal his grandson was doing at West Point.

“You should see him in the uniform Jimmy. He looks so like his father...” Sal paused overcome momentarily with emotion from the one great tragedy of his life. Sal junior had been killed in Iraq during the first gulf war.