Schroeder said, “What surprises does Flynn have planned for me?”
Hickey laughed again. “If I tell you, it won’t be a surprise. I’ll bet when you were a child you were an insufferable brat, Schroeder. Always trying to find out what people bought you for Christmas, sneaking around closets and all that.”
Schroeder didn’t respond and again heard the laughter from the next room.
Hickey said, “Don’t initiate any calls to us unless it’s to say we’ve won. I’ll call you back every hour on the hour until 6:00A.M. At 6:03 it’s over.”
Schroeder heard the phone go dead. He looked at Burke’s still form on the couch, then shut off all the speakers and dialed again. “Hickey?”
“What?”
Schroeder took a deep breath and said through his clenched jaw, “You’re a dead motherfucker.” He put the phone down and steadied his hands against the desk. There was a taste of blood in his mouth, and he realized that he was biting into his lower lip.
Burke turned his head and looked at Schroeder. Their eyes met, and Schroeder turned away.
Burke said, “It’s okay.”
Schroeder didn’t answer, and Burke could see his shoulders shaking.
CHAPTER 48
Colonel Dennis Logan rode in the rear of a staff car up the deserted section of Fifth Avenue, toward the Cathedral. He turned to his adjutant, Major Cole. “Didn’t think I’d be passing this way again today.”
“Yes, sir. It’s actually March eighteenth.”
Colonel Logan overlooked the correction and listened to the bells play “I’ll Take You Home Again, Kathleen,” then said, “Do you believe in miracles?”
“No, sir.”
“Well, see that green line?”
“Yes, sir, the long one in the middle of the Avenue that we followed.” He yawned.
“Right. Well, some years ago, Mayor Beame was marching in the parade with the Sixty-ninth. Police Commissioner Codd and the Commissioner for Public Events, Neil Walsh, were with him. Before your time.”
Major Cole wished that this parade had been before his time. “Yes, sir.”
“Anyway, it rained that morning after the line machine went by, and the fresh green paint washed away—all the way from Forty-fourth to Eighty-sixth Street. But later that morning Walsh bought some paint and had his men hand-paint the line right in front of the Cathedral.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Well, when we marched past with the city delegation, Walsh turns to Codd and says, ‘Look! It’s a miracle, Commissioner! The line’s still here in front of the Cathedral!’”
Colonel Logan laughed at the happier memory and went on. “So Codd says, ‘You’re right, Walsh!’ and he winks at him, then looks at Beame. ‘Oh my gosh!’ said the little Mayor. ‘I always wanted to see a miracle. I never saw a miracle before!’” Logan laughed but refrained from slapping his or Cole’s knee. The driver laughed, too.
Major Cole smiled. He said, “Sir, I think we’ve mustered most of the officers and at least half the men.”
Logan lit a cigar. “Right…. Do they look sober to you?”
“It’s hard to say, sir.”
Logan nodded, then said, “We’re not really needed here, are we?”
“That’s difficult to determine, Colonel.”
“I think the Governor is looking for high marks in leadership and courage, don’t you?”
Major Cole replied, “The regiment is well trained in crowd and riot control, sir.”
“So are twenty-five thousand New York police.”
“Yes, sir.”
“I hope to God he doesn’t get us involved in an assault on the Cathedral.”
The major replied, “Sir,” which conveyed no meaning.
Colonel Logan looked through the window as the car passed between a set of police barriers and moved slowly past the singing crowds. “Incredible.”
Cole nodded. “Yes, it is.”
The staff car drew up to the rectory and stopped.
Captain Joe Bellini advised the newspeople that the press conference room might cave in if the Cathedral was blown up, and they moved with their equipment to less vulnerable places outside the Cathedral complex as Bellini moved in. He stood in the room beside a chalkboard. Around the tables and along the walls, were sixty Emergency Service Division men, armed with shotguns, M-16 rifles, and silenced pistols. In the rear of the room sat Colonel Logan, Major Cole, and a dozen staff personnel from the 69th Regiment. A cloud of gray tobacco smoke veiled the bright lights. Bellini pointed to a crude outline of the Cathedral on the chalkboard. “So, Fifth Squad will attack through the sacristy gates. You’ll be issued steel-cut chainsaws and bolt cutters. Okay?”
Colonel Logan stood. “If I may make a suggestion … Before, you said your men had to control their fire…. This is your operation, and my part is secondary, but the basic rules of warfare … Well, anyway, when you encounter concealed enemy positions that have a superior field of fire—like those triforia and choir loft—and you know you can’t engage them with effective fire … then you have to lay down
No one spoke, but a few men were nodding.
Logan’s voice became more intense. He was suddenly giving a prebattle pep talk. “Keep blasting those triforia, blast that choir loft, slap magazine after magazine into those rifles, raking, raking, raking those sniper perches, blasting away so long, so loud, so fast, and so hard that it sounds like Armageddon and the Apocalypse all at once, and no one—
There was a spontaneous burst of applause from the ESD men and the military people. Captain Bellini waited until the noise died away, then said, “Yes, well, Colonel, that’s sound advice, but we’re
Logan said, “Yes, I understand.” He wiped his face. “I’m not advocating air strikes. I mean, I’m only suggesting you increase your use of small-arms fire, and—”
“Such an intense degree of even small-arms fire, Colonel, would do”—Bellini remembered the Governor’s words—“irreparable … irreparable damage to the Cathedral … the ceiling … the stonework … statues …”
One of the squad leaders stood. “Look, Captain, since when are art treasures more important than people? My mother thinks
Several people laughed nervously.
Bellini felt the sweat collecting under his collar. He looked at Logan. “Colonel, your mission …” Bellini paused and watched Logan stiffen.
Logan said, “My mission is to provide a tight cordon around the Cathedral during the assault. I know what I have to do.”
Bellini almost smirked. “No, that’s been changed. The Governor wants you to take a more active part in the assault.” He savored each word as he said it. “The police will supply you with their armored personnel carrier. It’s army surplus, and you’ll be familiar with it.” Bellini noticed that Major Cole had gone pale.
Bellini stepped closer to Logan. “You’ll take the vehicle up the front steps with fifteen men inside—”
Logan’s voice was barely under control. “This is
