“Okay,” he said. “I’ll do it.”
She thanked him profusely, told him how glad she was, thanked him again. She set up a meeting with him for two days hence, on Friday, so they could discuss various details. She even kissed him on the cheek before he left.
Walking back down Main Street toward his car, Justin wondered what the hell he’d just done.
He thought, My life. My choices.
Shaking his head, he got in the car, drove home, called Marjorie Leggett, told her he was working on keeping his promise. Then he made a second call, this one to Billy DiPezio, the Providence, Rhode Island, police chief. Billy was the reason Justin had become a cop. And he’d been Justin’s boss for several years. Billy was also the most crooked honest man Justin had ever met. Or maybe he was the most honest crook. Billy was a cop who walked a fine line between right and wrong, sometimes crossing over, not always knowing when he did. And rarely caring.
“I’m calling to get your permission for something,” Justin said when he got Billy on the phone. Billy was, as usual, not at the station or at home with his wife. He was in a bar somewhere, probably sharing a booth with someone he shouldn’t be sharing it with.
“Well, that’s a first,” Billy said.
“I’m trying to do a favor for a friend and I need to do a little research.”
“There’s a new thing,” Billy said. “It’s called the Internet. It’s amazing, I’m told. You can look stuff up, just like it’s a real library. In fact, they probably have a whole library building in that weird little beach town you live in. The Billy Joel Library or something, isn’t it?”
“It’s not that kind of research. I need the human kind.”
“And you’re calling me, Jay? I’m flattered.”
“Don’t be too flattered. I want to talk to Chuck Billings.”
Justin could sense Billy’s demeanor-jaunty, unconcerned-shift slightly. Nothing major, Billy was too good an actor to be obvious. But his tone changed a bit, and there was a split second more thought before he began to banter.
“Local cop decides to get involved in terrorist bombing, Jay?”
“I’m not getting involved,” Justin said. And he quickly told Billy the truth about Jimmy and Marjorie Leggett. “If Chuck’s still your bomb guy, all I want is to pick his brain a bit. I just want to understand what really happened so I can tell Margie. Maybe it’ll help.”
“Of course he’s still my bomb guy. Probably the best bomb squad captain in the country.”
“So can I talk to him?”
“It’ll be easier than you think,” Billy told him. “The Feds called him in as a consultant, to take a look at the restaurant.”
“Harper’s?”
“I told you he’s good.”
“Is he here already?”
“Right in your neighborhood,” Billy said. “Staying at some motel, Chuck said not the classiest place in town. Something about fish. . the Fish Bowl. . the Fish Net. .?”
“The Fisherman?”
“Sounds right. He got in this morning.”
“Thanks, Billy.”
“Buy him a good dinner, that’s all I ask. You can afford it and he can’t, not on what I pay him.”
“Done.”
“You coming up anytime soon?”
“I’ll be up,” Justin said.
“You can also take me out to dinner.”
“Billy, you haven’t paid for a meal in twenty years. What the hell do you need me for?”
“I’m hanging up on you now. Make sure you send my regards to your very rich parents.”
“I’ll quote you exactly.”
Justin hung up, immediately dialed the Fisherman Motel. Billings wasn’t in his room so Justin left a message on voice mail. He took a deep breath, looked around his house, happy to be alone and isolated from the world for at least one more night, then he rolled a big fat illegal joint, got as stoned as he’d been in several months, and fell asleep listening to R.E.M. blaring from his speakers.
It seemed as good a way as any to spend his first night as police chief.
5
Justin Westwood had experienced many disturbing dreams in his thirty-eight years. Particularly since Alicia and Lili had died. Dreams that floated through his consciousness. Dreams that were filled with violence and inflicted waves of guilt and regret. Dreams that made him twist and turn and hurt and wake up drenched in sweat and dread. But very few of his dreams were as disturbing as what he was watching on television at eight o’clock the next morning, soon after he’d awakened and made himself four cups of very strong drip coffee.
He was halfway through his second cup, black, when he turned on one of the morning shows on TV and was greeted with images of the aftermath of the explosion at Harper’s. It was all very frantic and ragged. Some tourist had been making a video document of his trip to the Hamptons and had been half a block away when the bomb went off. He had the actual explosion on camera. It was from a skewed angle, but there it was and it was terrifying. Even on this nervously shot amateur tape, the force and devastation were apparent. The tourist had kept taping but it hadn’t taken long before he was no longer allowed in the thick of things. Then the news coverage took over. This footage was at least as disturbing. Viewers were able to see things they never wanted to see. The blood, the mutilation, the bodies. The tape ran for a good ten minutes, with occasional voice-over narration and explanations given by the show’s host. When it ended, the attorney general of the United States, Jeffrey Stuller, was on camera, appearing from Washington, D.C., speaking to the normally perky-but now extremely somber-host.
“While there will continue to be a more detailed investigation, we have concluded the initial stage of our investigation into the devastating bombing of Harper’s Restaurant in East Hampton, New York,” Stuller was saying. “And I’m not going to mince words. All indications are that this was a terrorist suicide bombing. It is the kind of incident that has, tragically, become far too common in Israel and Iraq and other locations around the world. And now it has reached American shores. This is something we have dreaded for quite some time, ever since the events of September eleventh, but I want to assure the American public that it is not something that has been unexpected. Nor is it something we are unprepared for. Most important, it is not something that will go unpunished.
“No one has claimed responsibility yet for this heinous act. But, as the president said in his speech last night, we know the evildoers who are responsible. They are the same evildoers we have been battling and battling successfully. We have, ever since 9/11, been winning the war on terrorism. We defeated the Taliban and we defeated Saddam Hussein. We have been beating back and defeating those who place no value on human life and who, misguidedly, use their God to promote hate, destruction, and the deaths of innocent, good, and truly God-loving people.”
“Mr. Attorney General,” the host said. “If you know who is responsible for this latest act, what will the government’s next step be?”
“I have already met early this morning with the president, the vice president, the heads of the FBI and CIA, and my own deputy attorney general, Ted Ackland. Many details of that conversation must remain confidential for national security reasons. But I can assure every single person in our strong and resilient country that those responsible will be caught and punished very quickly.”
“Mr. Stuller,” the host said, but the attorney general cut her off.
“I’d like to make one other point, if I may,” he said. “Then I’ll be happy to take one or two questions. And I can’t stress this point strongly enough. We are at war. We have been at war for several years now, whether certain people in this country want to acknowledge that or not. And in times of war, security must become a priority and strong measures must be taken. Measures that some members of Congress and the Senate, as well as some members of the media, have questioned. I’ve said this before and I’m going to say it again: Such questioning can only do this country harm at this point in time. Quite possibly irreparable harm. Terrorism must not be politicized for personal or political gain. I can assure everyone listening that no innocent people, no law-abiding American citizens, have anything to fear from their government. No rights will be abridged for those who deserve and value those rights. But I want to make this absolutely clear: Those responsible for this act. . those who support this act. . those who support any groups whose desire is to harm or destroy the United States of America. . those people have much to fear. Those people will find that we will stop at nothing to make this world safe from the evils of terrorism and the ruin that would result from such lawlessness and godlessness. I know the American people support us in such a proclamation and in such a goal. And we will not let those people down.”