Chapter 83
THE ONLY THING that Tom Owens liked about riding in Pry’s beat-up pickup truck was that Kimmy sat right next to him. He enjoyed having her crammed up beside him on the bench seat.
Ellis Warrenton was doing the driving. No one had seen Pry all day.
He rarely risked driving his own truck because, as Owens understood it, his driver’s license had been suspended some time ago.
Not that Owens was any great judge—though he had a license, he had never owned a vehicle.
Owens did recognize that the truck was more obvious in the city and fit in a little bit better out here, near New Rochelle and Bronxville.
Ellis asked Owens, “What do you think? Have you seen any banks that would be easier targets than the one I picked out in Westchester?”
“I told you, I don’t care anything about banks. I don’t care which one you want to rob. It doesn’t advance our agenda in any way.”
Ellis let out a little sigh as he stared straight ahead through the windshield.
Finally, he said, “What about the off-track-betting office we saw? If we were patient and did some surveillance, we could figure out the right time to hit it. It’s government-run.
That way we’ll have some cash and you get to make a statement against the government. ”
When Owens didn’t say anything, Ellis added, “We don’t need any kind of fancy device. No glitter or any shit like that.”
“Why use a bomb at all?” Owens realized he was starting to pick apart anything Ellis said. But the more the guy talked, the less interested Owens was in hearing what he had to say. Kimmy stared out the passenger-side window, clearly not willing to engage in the argument between her companions.
Eventually, Ellis mumbled, “I wish Pry was here.”
“Why? We’re not breaking anything or doing stupid things. Isn’t that his specialty?”
Ellis defended Pry. “Hey, we all didn’t go to MIT. But Pry is dedicated to the cause. He even soaked a cop with acid to take a stand for the oppressed.”
Owens was skeptical. “I thought he did that because he was upset about a parking ticket.”
Ellis didn’t respond.
They drove around for a little while more, then headed back toward Bronxville. Ellis pulled the truck up in front of the Bronxville Diner, on Kraft Avenue.
Ellis said, “C’mon, let’s go in. We have to eat.”
“Who’s paying?” Owens asked.
“We still have some of the money from your brother,” Ellis answered. “Don’t worry. We’ll be flush soon. At least if we eat now, without Pry, it’ll be a lot cheaper.”
Ellis’s phone rang. He looked at it and said, “Oh, shit.”
“What’s wrong?” Kimmy asked. “Who is it?”
“It’s that attorney, Heitz, who’s helped us a couple of times. I don’t know why he’s calling, but it can’t be good news.” Ellis answered the phone and immediately put it on speaker.
The first thing the lawyer said was “Your friend, Leonard Barr, has been arrested.” Heitz quickly explained what had happened and answered the questions Ellis threw at him.
Once Ellis understood that Pry had assaulted a police officer, he whooped and said, “That’s our Pry. Always fighting for the cause.”
Now the attorney sounded more forceful. “No, you don’t understand. The prick who arrested him is a homicide detective I know. He’s absolutely relentless. This is a big deal.”
“What do you recommend?”
There was a pause. Then Heitz said, “Understand that I am not offering you legal advice here. But in my non-legal opinion, I would deal with this cop quickly. Throw off the investigation. Something that would also look good for your cause.”
Owens noted the dismissive way the lawyer had said “cause.”
Ellis thought for a moment, then said, “How quickly do you think we need to deal with him?”
“Soon. Like, this week. His name is Michael Bennett. He’s a detective in the Manhattan North Homicide unit on the Upper West Side.
It’s not a precinct. The unit’s in a private building that rents space.
That might be a spot where you could find a chance to do something. It’s not terribly high-security.”
Heitz wrapped up the call without saying anything more about Pry’s case or whether he could get him off the charges or anything else.
When they’d hung up, Ellis turned to Owens. “Can you make something on short notice to deal with this detective?”
“I can modify a device I already have. It would only take a couple of hours. Then we can set it on his car.”
“How will we know which is his car?” Kimmy asked.
Owens smiled. “I’ll hack into the NYPD database and see what kind of car is assigned to him. I’ll also poke around while I’m in there and do some background research so we’ll know more about what we’re up against.”
Ellis nodded. “Let’s take care of this Bennett character quickly. Why wait?”