No Mercy Read Free Page A

“Yes, I know,” he replied. “This I know.”
    The woman inmate turned her head to look at him and said, “I guess you would know that.”
    The drive back to Port Jefferson was fairly quick. Rachelle called on her speakerphone to be sure Paul took the dogs out for their walk and asked him if he could set the DVR for Suze Orman's show at 7:00 pm.
    “You're still into her?” Deborah asked.
    A smile came over Rachelle's face as she said, “More than ever. I never miss it.”
    Deborah laughed as she looked at her phone and saw a text from a phone number she did not recognize: You are still beautiful . She began to laugh as she told Rachelle someone had just sent a love note to the wrong number.
    Paul answered his cell with a “Hello Bud” and with no surprise apparent on his face started listening to his partner singing to him, but quickly interrupted him. “If you want me to help you move into your house next weekend, you better stop.” That did the trick. Bud was moving to the village after thirty years of living in Miller Place. He fell in love with the Henry Hallock house at 116 South Street. He first read about the house in Rachelle's book, The History of a Village Called Port Jefferson, and he promptly drove to the house, convinced the owner how interested he was, and after a walk-through and inspection of the house made an offer that couldn't be refused. The Henry Hallock house, according to the Port Jefferson Historical Society, was originally owned by Captain Henry Hallock, who built seven coastal schooners between 1855 and 1878. His grandson Albert became a noted local historian in the village. The economy was still tough, but he was able to sell his home on Parkside Drive and with the profit made from the house bought this beautiful quaint little home built in 1848. The tub in the bathroom was from 1890, and although there was much work to do to fix it up, Bud loved the history of the house and without admitting it, wanted to be closer to three of his favorite people: Paul, Rachelle, and Deborah.
    While Paul, Bud, Deborah, and Rachelle were already friends, the Face of Fear investigation made them a family. Once the investigation was completed and the news media found other news to exploit, the Suffolk County Police Department rewarded Detective Lieutenant Cronin and his detectives, Paul Powers and Bud Johnson, with a task force called Priority 1. The task force was directed by the chief of police as to which case would be given to them as a Priority 1. The task force consisted of Officers Lynagh, Healey, Dugan, Franks, Chapman, and a new detective, Ellyn Baker. Kevin Cronin chose his team and brought his closest allies with him from the Face of Fear investigation. This included Sherry Walker, who decided after six months on the task force that it was time to possibly teach and look forward to starting a family. Enter Ellyn Baker, 27, tall, 5'8”, brunette, with blue-grey eyes that lit up rooms that already had the light on. Many throughout the precinct thought that Ellyn reminded them of the character Kate Beckett from TV's Castle program. The main difference was that Ellyn liked to walk around the Priority 1 area with her shoes off. At first Detective Lieutenant Cronin balked but soon gave up, as it added variety to his team of personalities.
    Even Bud once asked Ellyn about the shoeless thing, and she laughed with her reply: “I think better without my shoes. Sometimes I hold off going to the bathroom for an hour because I don't want to put my shoes back on.”
    Bud's face had that look of puzzlement, not sure if she was just messing with him or if she was a little crazy. He even thought about asking her why she would go to the trouble of putting on her shoes to go to the ladies' room but decided against it until he knew her better.
    The Priority 1 team did not rest on their success from the highly publicized case eighteen months prior. They had solved two murder cases, two cold cases, and four robbery