Part 4

Chapter 16: Special Agent Kyle Van Horn

The three men talked for several minutes and then stepped back into the room.

"Mr. Blanchard this is Special Agent Kyle Van Horn from the FBI. He would like to ask you some questions," Detective Barron said.

Agent Van Horn shook hands with Detective Olson and then reached over the table and offered me his hand. "Nice to meet you Mr. Blanchard. I just wish we were meeting under better circumstances.

"I am out here from the Philadelphia Field Office trying to track down Anthony Lombardo. Detective Barron told me that you have had some involvement with him, is that correct?"

"I don't know anyone by that name," I said.

"Maybe you know him as Big Tony."

"I know that name. I have never met the bastard but he is responsible for my wife being shot and an attempt being made on my life."

"So you have never seen Big Tony?" Agent Van Horn said. "How is it that you know his name?"

"Porky and Slim told me about him," I said.

"Who are Porky and Slim?" Agent Van Horn asked.

"They are the two idiots that shot my wife and tried to kill me."

"Why don't you tell me how it is that these men told you about Big Tony."

So I repeated my story about what happened on Parker's Hill. When I finished, Agent Van Horn opened his briefcase and pulled a folder from it. Agent Van Horn then removed several photographs from the folder and placed them face up on the table in front of me.

"Do you recognize any of these people?" Agent Van Horn asked.

I spotted Porky and Slim almost immediately and pointed them out to Van Horn. "That's the one I call Slim and that one is Porky.

Van Horn pointed to Slim and said, "This is Mike (Bean) Soriano and this fat guy is Tommy (Pug) Fazio. Do you recognize any of the others?"

As I studied the pictures I started to say that I had never seen any of the others before but stopped when something caught my eye. I stared at one of the pictures for a minute. It was a fat bald guy. I couldn't think of how I might have known him but there was something familiar about him.

"This guy," I said pointing to his picture. "I can't remember why I know him but I know him," I said. Looking at the picture I got the impression that the guy was a bit of a slob and then it came to me. "Danny DiVito," I said out loud.

"Danny DeVito the actor?" Van Horn asked.

"No. When I met this guy he reminded me a little of Danny DiVito but fatter and obviously a slob," I said.

"Where did you meet him?"

"Oh shit, that explains the finger prints on the gun," I said.

"What are you talking about?" Detective Olson asked.

"I have a part time job installing high speed internet service for the local phone company. I have to go to people's homes to do the installations. I installed this guy's Internet service."

"His name is Sammy (Meatball) DeLucia," Van Horn said.

"He was living in one of those condos on the north side of town near the river," I said. "When I went to his condo he came to the door dressed in boxer shorts and a tee shirt. Only, then he was wearing a pair of glasses with thick lenses. I remember that he was chewing on a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and the jelly was running down his hand to his wrist and there was a mess of it on his shirt.

"Anyway, when I sat down to configure his modem he had a gun sitting next to his computer keyboard. I asked him to remove the gun because I didn't feel comfortable with it being right there where I was working. He told me it wasn't loaded and then asked me to go ahead and check to make sure it wasn't loaded. He said that he didn't want to touch the gun with peanut butter and jelly on his hands.

"I had no clue how to do that. So he stood there and told me how to eject the clip and pull the slide back to make sure the gun was empty. The clip was empty and there wasn't anything in the chamber either. I tried to hand the gun back to him but he asked me to put the clip back in and leave it on the table.

"I'll bet that was the gun they used to shoot Holly and that is how my finger prints got on the gun."

Detective Barron asked Van Horn who the other men in the photos were.

"This one is Anthony Big Tony Lombardo. He's a small time hood with big time aspirations," Van Horn said ... He runs dope, numbers, and illegal gambling in Trenton, New Jersey.

"We have been trying to pin the killings of two rival gang members last year on him. We found their bodies in a swamp near the Meadowlands Sports complex."

I almost said, "I heard them talking about that earlier tonight." If I had said it my story would have been blown. I would have to tell them I had been in the basement of the farm house and I didn't dare tell them that.

"This one is Nigel (Bagger) Needham," Van Horn said. Bagger came over from England to avoid some legal problems he was having there. He has been in the US for about five years and he is Big Tony's number one man.

"This is Guy Dugan. He is new to the group and so far hasn't earned a nick name."

"How long have you been after Big Tony and his gang?" Detective Olson asked.

"Just since those bodies were found last year," Van Horn said. We had an informant tell us that Bagger and Big Tony did the job themselves but we haven't been able to prove it yet."

"So, why are they here?" Detective Olson asked.

"Don't know," Van Horn said.

"I do," I said. "It's like I have been telling you, they came here to kill Holly and me and I would like to know why."

"How did you know that they were here?" Detective Olson asked.

"We've been watching them," Van Horn said. "We have their phones tapped and we even have a bug in their little social club in Trenton. This trip was never mentioned in any of the conversations we intercepted. Big Tony did make several references to some party he was planning but no one ever even hinted what that might be or where it might take place. The only lead we had was that Meatball Delucia was out here in Riverton back in March.

"Then last week, without any hint that they were up to anything the whole gang disappeared. We might never have located them out here except that Bean used his credit card to by food in a local Chinese restaurant. We have been trying to locate them out here but we haven't had any luck finding them yet."

I almost laughed out loud. I sure as hell didn't have any trouble finding Big Tony and his associates and I could tell Agent Van Horn right where they all were at that moment but I didn't.

"Did you tell Agent Van Horn that you have two of your officers on Big Tony's payroll?" I said.

"Van Horn's head snapped around and he looked at Detective Barron. "Is that true?"

"We don't know for sure. Apparently Pug and Bean told Mr. Blanchard that Big Tony paid off a couple of officers to make sure that Mr. Blanchard never goes to trial for shooting his wife," Detective Barron said.

"Well that changes things," Van Horn said. Big Tony probably already knows that I'm here. Kind of makes this a wasted trip."

A part of me was angry that Van Horn didn't seem to care that Big Tony had come to Riverton to kill Holly and me. He was just trying to pin the murder of two other scum bags on Big Tony. The only reason I didn't go ballistic was because I was about 100% sure that Big Tony and his gang were all incinerated in the explosion at the Cheswick Farm.

Just then Detective Barron's phone rang. The detective answered the phone and listened for a moment and then disconnected.

"WW is on the way up," Detective Barron said.

"Who's WW?" Van Horn asked.

"Walter White, our fearless DA."

Less than a minute later the DA walked into the room. There were now five people in that small room and it was getting uncomfortably warm in there.

"Detective Olson, Is this Mr. Blanchard? Why isn't he in lock up?" WW said.

"Because he didn't shoot his wife and he didn't shoot me," Detective Olson said.

WW had a sour expression on his face, obviously not happy with what Detective Olson just told him. "So, what the hell is going on here?"

The next hour was spent with me telling my story again to the DA and then Agent Van Horn explaining who Big Tony was and why the FBI was in Riverton looking for him.

We had just about finished answering all of the DA's questions when another man stuck his head in the door. I recognized him as Police Chief Harry Dodson.

"Chief, what are you doing here this time of night?" Detective Barron asked the Chief.

"I was just about to ask you that. I was called in by the Fire Marshall. There was a huge explosion and fire out on County Route 15."

"Was that the loud boom I heard a few of hours ago?" Detective Barron asked.

"Probably. It was the old Cheswick Farm. The Fire Marshall thinks that there must have been a propane leak under the house. Anyway, there is nothing left of the house. The fire department is still looking for victims," Chief Dodson said.

I let out a small sigh of relief at hearing that the Fire Marshall believed that the explosion was an accident.

"I thought that house was empty," Detective Olson said.

"The estate agent handling the house said that she had rented the house for two months beginning four weeks ago. Said a guy named Sam DeLucia signed the lease agreement but she had no idea how many people would be staying there.

Agent Van Horn suddenly became very animated. "Have they found any bodies?"

"Who are you?" Chief Dodson asked Van Horn.

"I am Special Agent Kyle Van Horn of the FBI."

"And what is your interest in this fire?"

"I am out here tailing some organized crime members from New Jersey and Sam DeLucia was one of them," Van Horn said.

"And just what are these New Jersey mobsters doing in Riverton?" the Chief asked.

"We don't know that yet," Van Horn said.

"God damn it, isn't anyone listening to me?' I yelled. "They came out here to kill my wife and me."

"Who are you?" The Chief asked.

"I am Tom Blanchard."

"Oh, you're the one that tried to kill your wife and then shot Detective Olson."

"No, he didn't," Detective Olson said.

"Then would someone explain to me what Mr. Blanchard, two of my detectives, the DA and an FBI agent are doing here at this time of night?" The Chief asked.

So, once again I told my story, and then Agent Van Horn told his.

At that point I was about out of patience. Everyone was asking questions and no one was doing anything. With six people jammed into the small space the room temperature was nearly unbearable.

"Right now," I said loudly, "I am not very impressed with the gathered law enforcement talent in this room. I have been telling you all night that Big Tony is trying to kill me and my wife. He has paid someone at the hospital to kill Holly tonight and all the lot of you can do is stand around and marvel that none of you can find their own ass using both hands."

The DA gave me an indignant look and said, "That was uncalled for. We are all doing our best to get to the bottom of this situation."

"Bullshit, all you are concerned about is how this case will affect you run for mayor next year," I said. "Now is somebody going to tell me what you are doing to protect my wife?"

The room became very quiet for a moment.

"I have a guy watching her room," Detective Olson said. "If anyone tries to enter her room he or she will be stopped."

"Thank you," I said.

Chapter 17: Voices From Heaven or Most Likely Hell

The quiet time ended. The two detectives, the FBI agent, the DA and the Police Chief all started talking, each trying to speak loud enough to be heard over the others. I wanted to scream and run out the door. All I wanted to do was to get out of that room and go to the hospital to be with Holly but I couldn't even get to the door. Then to make matters worse another person entered the room.

"Oh, here you are Chief. The man looked around the crowed room and then spoke to the Chief. We have identified four bodies so far."

"Just four?" I almost said it out loud. My heart started pounding as I worried about which two of Big Tony's gang might have survived the blast.

The Chief then introduced the new member of our crime stoppers convention to Agent Van Horn. "Agent Van Horn, this is David Green, our Fire Marshall.

"We have searched the area in and around the house or what's left of the house, and have found four bodies. We are still searching the area but it's quite dark out there and it may be morning before we know if there are any other victims. We have tentatively identified the four as: Thomas Fazio, Mike Soriano, Samuel Delucia and George Dugan all from Trenton, New Jersey."

"Then Big Tony and Bagger are still out there somewhere," Agent Van Horn said.

"Who are they?" the Fire Marshall said.

This time I kept my mouth shut and let Agent Van Horn tell his story.

We may still find them yet," the Fire Marshall said and then continued. "One of my men found this lying in the driveway. I think it must have been inside the house when the explosion occurred."

I could not believe what I saw. The Fire Marshall handed the Chief my voice recorder. The one I had hidden in the kitchen at the farm house.

The chief push play and we heard voices and then he hit stop. The Chief studied the unit for a few moments and managed to figure out how to begin play from the beginning of the recording.

"Let's see what we have here," the Chief said and then pressed play and set the recorder on the table. The playback began with the sound of a door closing. I knew that was me closing the cellar door as I retreated down the stairs to get out of the Kitchen before Big Tony and his goons came into the house. Then the voices that I had become so familiar with filled the small room.

"So what do we do now Boss? The cops don't know where he is, so how we gonna find him?"

"We sit tight. Maybe those numb nuts cops will find him. Either way that bitch dies tonight. Tomorrow Bean, you and Pug will take Blanchard's car down to St. Louis and dump it somewhere."

"How ya gonna do her in the hospital with all them people around?"

"We got a guy, a fuckin male nurse, on night shift at the hospital. He's gonna pay her a little visit around three o'clock in the morning and give her a shot of insulin. Nobody will notice because she is already in a coma. She'll be dead before morning and it will look like she died from her injuries."

"What if they do one of them autopsy things on her? Won't they find out about the insulin?"

"Maybe, but we'll be long away from here before that happens, "Our friend in the hospital is going to drop Blanchard's cell phone under her bed. Make it look like Blanchard paid her a visit. If they discover the insulin in her system the coppers will think Blanchard went to the hospital to finish the job."

"Oh, right. Good plan."

"I am so glad you approve since it's your fault we're still here. If you and Bean hadn't fucked things up in the first place we would be back home by now."

"Bean?"

"Yeah Boss."

"I want you to go into town and get some Chinese food."

"Can't we have it delivered?"

"What, are you fuckin brain dead? Nobody knows we're here and I want to keep it that way."

I had heard all of that while I was hiding in the cellar. This is where the conversation changed to other unimportant topics. At that point Van Horn made the observation that all six men were in the house. Then the Chief fast forwarded a little at a time until we heard Bean return with their Chinese take-out.

We listened to them as they ate and then Bagger told the story of how he and Big Tony had wacked two members of a rival gang.

"Got the bastard now," Van Horn said.

After that the conversation turned to other stories about criminal activity. Then we heard Big Tony say, "Bagger, come out front with me so we can talk in private."

The others continued telling stories until Porky said, "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" sounded like Slim.

"That noise. Sounds like someone taking a shower."

"Right, who the fuck do you think is taking a shower?"

"I don't know, maybe Big Tony."

"He's with Bagger. What, you think they's in the shower together."

It seemed like it was quiet for a few minutes and then someone said, "What the fuck is that smell?"

Then there was a loud noise followed by lots of different sounds that I could not identify. After that there were all kinds of sounds. Sirens, the sounds of large trucks, voices shouting and then silence.

"Is there any way that anyone in the house could have survived that explosion?" Van Horn asked.

"No, ' said the Fire Marshall. "If, like you said, there were six men in the house, the two that were missing must have gone outside before the explosion. If they were standing in the front yard below the level of the front porch they might have survived. They might also have survived if they had gone back to the barn. The barn was left intact but I don't think they would have been in the barn."

"Why?" Van Horn asked.

"There was a car inside the barn," The Fire Marshall said. "If they were in the barn when the house blew up why didn't they take the car to get away?"

Trying to move things along I asked, "What kind of car was it?"

"It was a Mustang."

"Did you happen to see the license number?" I asked.

"It was a vanity plate. It said TECHSAN."

"That's my car," I said.

Nobody seemed to pay any attention to what I had said about the car.

"I need to get out there?" Agent Van Horn said.

"I'll go with you to show you the way," DA Walter White said.

It was obvious that the DA saw an opportunity to make himself look good. In his campaign for mayor he could talk about how he had worked with the FBI to help close a case involving organized crime.

"You can all follow me," the Fire Marshall said, "I have to go back out there anyway."

Detective Barron looked at Detective Olson and said, "I think I better go with them so they don't hurt themselves.

Now I was alone in the room with Detective Olson.

"So what happens now?" I asked.

"Well, you are free to go," he said. "I'll let everyone know you are no longer a person of interest in your wife's shooting or in mine."

"Can you get someone to give me a ride to the hospital? I need to be with my wife."

"I'll take you there myself," Detective Olson said. "I need to check on security for your wife and see how she is doing."

Chapter 18: 3:35 AM Friday June 13

It was 3:35 in the morning when I arrived at Holly's room.

On the way out of the Police Station, Detective Olson made a call to the hospital to tell them we were coming over when he got off the phone he was smiling.

"The hospital security guys caught a male nurse going into your wife's room with a syringe and an ampule of insulin. They are holding him for me."

"Oh, thank God," I said. "That's a load off my mind."

When we got to the hospital, I headed up to Holly's room while Detective Olson went down to the hospital security office to take Holly's would be killer into custody.

When I went into the room I kissed Holly on the cheek. She didn't respond but I noticed that her eyes, while closed, were moving. They were quite active.

I pulled a chair up next to the bed and had just sat down when someone entered the room behind me. I turned to find a doctor standing in the doorway.

"Mr. Blanchard?" I am Dr. Ravi Shah. The duty nurse called me and said that you were here."

"How is she? Any change?"