Page 40 of Tommy Gabrini: All Fall Down
CHAPTER NINETEEN
When Tommy ended the call with Hammer, he remained off to himself as if he was still thinking about what he’d just heard. Grace, along with Reno and Trina and Chief Browne, hurried over to where he was standing.
Jaden was about to go too, but the deputy chief stopped him. “Not you, kid. You come sit over here.”
“If you don’t need me anymore, can I leave now?”
“No. We may need you later. Sit.”
Jaden reluctantly sat down. The only thing positive about any of it was that he just might get to see Hammer Reese in person. That was worth the wait. But he’d rather have his friend back.
Over by Tommy, everybody was thinking about TJ too. And they all wanted answers. None more so than Grace. “What did he say?” she asked him.
Tommy looked at the chief. The chief, knowing that look, led them into that private back room, they all and the chief went inside, and he closed the door behind them.
But Tommy looked at Chief Browne. “I need to talk to the family first,” he said. “It’s a family matter.”
The chief looked at Sal, who he knew hated his guts as much as he hated Sal’s guts, and he wanted to insist that he had a right to stay. But he respected Tommy. “You’ll get me up to speed after you talk to your family?”
Tommy wasn’t going to lie to him. “We’ll see,” he said.
It was a no, and Chief Browne knew it. But he also didn’t want any Sinatra or Gabrini heat coming his way. So he didn’t press. He walked out and closed the door behind him.
Sal went to the door, listened to make sure Browne had actually walked away, and then he locked the door behind him. “Fucking cops,” Sal said.
“Didn’t you use to work with him when you and Tommy were police officers, Sal?” Trina asked.
“Oh yeah. I know his ass.”
“You act like you don’t trust him.”
“I never trusted any cop.”
“Not even yourself?”
“When I was a cop I was as crooked as a curve. Hell no I didn’t trust myself. Tommy was straight, but I wasn’t.”
“But to his credit,” Reno said, “he looked out for the little guy. He looked out for his ass and his crooked cop buddies too, but he also looked out for the little guy.”
“What did Hammer say, Tommy?” Grace asked.
Tommy exhaled. It was still tough to process. “Hammer believes TJ’s been implanted.”
They all frowned. “Implanted?” asked Reno. “What the fuck is that?”
“It’s when a seeing and hearing device is placed under the skin, usually on the lower arm, to see and hear an individual’s every movement and conversation.”
They all were floored. Especially Grace. “You think, when they claimed to be taking TJ to juvenile detention on Saturday, that they were really taking him somewhere to put that device in his arm?”
Tommy nodded. “That’s what it’s looking like, yes. But that’s not all, Grace.”
Her heart began to pound. “What is it?”
“If the person implanted says the wrong thing or does the wrong thing, they can remotely eliminate him.”
“Eliminate? What do you mean eliminate?” She immediately realized what he meant. “Oh no, Tommy. Tommyno! Are you telling me that with a touch of a button they can . . . They can kill our son?”
Tommy nodded. He was fighting back tears too. He pulled Grace, who lost her battle, into his arms.
