Now that he had the diagnosis of botulism, the slides were superfluous. He'd taken the slice of skin to make sure the woman's swollen eye was from trauma and not infection, and that was what he saw.
Putting Connie's slides aside, he reached for David Jefferson's folder.
He thought he'd polish off the case a day early and surprise Calvin.
While he worked, he happily anticipated the thought of spending an evening with Laurie and Lou after an invigorating pre-dinner run on the B-ball court.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 20
5:05 P.M.
'See you tomorrow! ' Bob King called out as Curt emerged from the front of the firehouse.
Curt responded to the rookie with a wave that was more a wave of dismissal than acknowledgment.
They were going in opposite directions on Duane Street after the shift change. 'Come mid-morning tomorrow, I'll never have to see you again, ' Curt mumbled under his breath.
As the afternoon progressed, Curt had grown increasingly excited about Operation Wolverine. At last, all the planning and all the effort was about to pay off, the operation was now on the launch pad in the final countdown for a blastoff in less than twenty-four hours! The only remaining skirmish involved Jack Stapleton, and that snag was to be dealt with in the next hour or so.
Curt glanced at his watch. Since it was after five, he fully expected the mission operatives would all be at the rendezvous in Pete's bar.
Steve had not called during the afternoon, a sure indication that everything had to have gone as planned.
As Curt rounded the corner he saw a plain, dark blue van parked in a loading zone close to the bar. On the driver's side door panel was stenciled the name of a Brooklyn plumber. Curt smiled. Undoubtedly it was the requisitioned vehicle.
The bar was practically empty. The whining country music that had provided the background earlier had been replaced with the harsh sounds of a group called Armageddon. Curt smiled again. It seemed so fitting The music was emanating from a boom box perched on a table in front of Carl Ryerson. In the smoky half-light of the bar, Carl's crooked grin and the swastika on his forehead gave him a particularly satanic aura.
'You like the sounds, Captain? ' Carl asked. He'd caught Curt's smile.
Curt liked the troops to call him 'captain', it was appropriately respectful, and it promoted discipline. He squeezed into the booth and eyed his squadron. Carl was sitting directly opposite. Next to him was the redhead, Kevin Smith. Then there was the diminutive Clark Ebersol, followed by Mike Compisano.
Steve was to Curt's immediate right.
Every one was in Tshirts with their tattoos visible, except for Curt who was still in his class B fireman's uniform. The table was littered with a forest of beer bottles.
'Let's slow up on the drinking, ' Curt said.
'Hey, what else is there to do in a bar? ' Kevin said. 'We've been here for a good half hour.'
'I didn't want to be late, ' Steve explained.
'Is that the van out front? ' Curt asked.
'Yup, ' Steve said. 'Thanks to Clark.'
'What about the ordnance? ' Curt questioned.
Steve leaned forward and lowered his voice. 'There's three Kalashnikovs and two Glocks in the truck. I figured that would be more than enough.
Hell, if the guy is on a bicycle, all we have to do is run over him.'
'But then we shoot him just to be sure, ' Curt said.
'Well, we certainly have more than enough firepower, ' Steve said.
'Where's Yuri? ' Curt asked. It was the first moment Curt realized the Russian wasn't there.
'I don't know, ' Steve said. 'Maybe he got hung up in the traffic.' Curt looked at his watch. 'We told the bastard to be here at five.'
'Why don't we use the time to set up tomorrow morning? ' Steve suggested. 'I mentioned to Mike we might need him for a quick mission.
' Mike was the least enamored of the skinhead style and the most responsive to Curt's urging to tame its outlandishness. Now that his blond hair had begun to grow out, compared to his fellow militiamen he could almost pass for normal.
'Good idea, ' Curt said, but before he could elaborate the waiter appeared to take his order. Curt ordered a Bud Light.
'Listen up, ' Curt said to Mike after Curt's beer had arrived. He leaned forward. 'We want you to put on business clothes in the morning, jacket, tie, the works. It's got to be early because we want you in front of the Jacob Javits Federal Building on Worth Street no later than nine-fifteen.'
'I'll have to take off from work, ' Mike said.
Curt rolled his eyes. He reminded himself he needed patience when he talked to his troops. 'Whatever, ' he said with a wave of his hands 'The important thing is that you are there at nine-fifteen. This operation has to go like clockwork.'
'So what do I do, just stand there? ' Mike questioned.
'No, you idiot, ' Curt said loudly. Then he lowered his voice. 'We're going to give you a small smoke bomb that generates lots of smoke.
It's about the size of a large firecracker, and you're to light it with a match. Most importantly it will not set off the metal detector when you go into the building.'
'I have to go inside? ' Mike questioned.
'That's right, ' Curt said.
'But won't they ask me why? '
'No! People are going in and out all day long.' Mike raised his eyebrows.
'I'm serious, ' Curt said. 'You won't have a problem as long as you look halfway decent. Hell, it probably wouldn't matter even if you wore what you have on today.'
'All right, ' Mike said. 'So I'm inside. What do I do with the smoke bomb? '
'Get on the elevator and go up to the third floor, ' Curt said. 'When you get off, go to your right. About thirty feet down the hall is a men's room. Got it? ' Mike nodded.
'Go inside the men's room and make sure no one else is in there.' Mike continued to nod.
'Actually, it probably doesn't matter even if someone is in there, ' Curt said. 'Just get yourself in the last stall. There's a vent in there against the back wall. Unscrew the cover with a coin, light the bomb, toss it inside the duct, then put the cover back on.'
'Is that all? ' Mike asked.
'That's it, ' Jack said. 'Then wander out of the building. The bomb's going to set off a smoke detector in the HVAC system so there'll be a fire alarm, but you just continue on your way. There also might be some confusion. After the alarm sounds, Steve and I will show up in minutes in our truck, and if you happen to see us, ignore us. That's all you have to do.' Mike gave a short laugh. He glanced around at the others. 'That's a piece of cake.'
'But it's an important piece of cake, ' Curt declared. 'It's an important mission for the PAA.'
At that moment Curt saw Yuri come in through the front door. Curt raised his hand to get Yuri's attention, and the Russian came over.
'You're late! ' Curt snapped.
'The traffic was bad getting into the Battery Tunnel, ' Yuri explained.
'Jack Stapleton better still be at his work, ' Curt warned. He stood up and went to the bar to pay the tab.
'All right, move out, ' Curt said a few minutes later when he'd returned to the table. He had to take bottles away from Kevin and Carl, who thought they'd carry out their unfinished beers.
Outside everyone piled into the van amid lots of excited laughter.
With the promise of violence, the skinheads were working themselves up to a fever pitch. Curt took the wheel and had Yuri ride shotgun so the Russian could most expediently identify the target. In the back there were some arguments about who was going to sit where among all the plumbing tools and lengths of pipe. Steve ended up having to decide.
