Campanelli: Sentinel Read Free

“at least that’s what I got from her during the interrogation. When she heard that Sam didn’t make it, she broke.”
                  Frank said nothing, choosing a sigh instead as he studied his carpet. He nodded sullenly.
                  “It wasn’t your fault,” Marcus stepped up, “Jimmy Antony used the man as a human shield. Linda knows this. I told her.”
                  “Yeah,” Frank said, still nodding. “What about the kid?”
                  “Well, she’s going to Juvi.”
                  “No extended family?!”
                  “None. Linda stated everyone else on both sides of the family is either elderly, departed for Alethea or dead.”
                  “Great,” Campanelli growled.
                  “Her parents’ actions sent her there, Frank.”
                  “Goddamn it, that doesn’t make it any better, Marcus,” Campanelli blurted.
                  “It should.”
                  Frank was quiet for a moment. He connected to the CPD server and saw that he had accumulated more than a dozen messages. He didn’t feel like reading any of them, but the one from Dmitri Vanek, Chief of Detectives for District One, was urgent. He and Williams were to head to his office as soon as possible. The message was two and a half hours old.
                  “Where’s Jimmy Antony now?” Frank asked of Williams.
                  “Out on bond.”
                  “What?! Already?!”
                  “Yep. They were only able to charge him with reckless driving and human trafficking.”
                  “He shot at me!” Campanelli shouted indignantly and slapped the arms of his recliner.
                  “Just submit your recordings to the DA and that should do to revoke bail.”
                  Frank let out a string of profanity and popped up from his chair. Stalking to his bedroom, he quickly picked out the day’s suit. “How the hell did he arrange bail so quick?!” he shouted over his shoulder.
                  “He’s connected to Phil Ignatola, Frank,” Marcus replied, knowing his partner hated that gangster more than any other in the city. He was right; another barrage of rather creative profanity erupted from the bedroom.
                  “So, we’ve finally drawn a line directly to the Ignatola family,” Campanelli stated as he took his clothes and a towel to the bathroom.
                  “Nothing that’ll stick,” Marcus explained, “I drew that conclusion from the lawyer that showed up this mornin’.”
                  “Uh, that would be that dillhole, Taylor.”
                  “Actually, it’s Del Taylor, and no, it was a junior partner, Beritoni.”
                  “Same difference,” Frank called from the bathroom. “Give me a few,” he called over the running water. The fifty-two year old showered quickly but thoroughly and, having dressed in record time, met Marcus at the already opened front door.
                  “I let Vanek know we were on our way to see him. He’s waiting in his office,” Williams said as he stepped behind his older partner.
                  The cruiser Williams had checked out from the motor pool was the same make and model as Campanelli’s, only twelve years older and far more run down. It rattled and squeaked as it rolled out of the parking lot and onto Eighteenth Street, but otherwise it was in good working order.
                  The drive was extremely short as the District One Station was across the street. Frank realized that he had forgotten to eat anything and hoped that the meeting would be short. He pulled a cigarette from the pack in his jacket pocket and lit it with his chromed NYPD