Wednesday 4:17 A.M.
A crashing boom woke Turner out of a sound sleep. As he jumped out of bed he saw that it was four seventeen A.M. Ben was awake as well. They threw on jeans and rushed to the hall. There was another thunderous boom. Brian was out of his bedroom. The three of them hurried down the stairs, Paul in the lead. Jeff’s light was on, but he was still in bed.
“What’s going on, dad?”
“Don’t know. Brian, stay with your brother.”
Ben and Paul rushed outdoors. Porch lights were on throughout the neighborhood. People singly and in pairs emerged from homes.
The lights in Mrs. Talucci’s home blazed. Her porch light flicked on and several younger women emerged from the house. Last came Mrs. Talucci bearing her shotgun. She leaned on her youngest niece.
Paul and Ben hurried over. Wisps of smoke eddied from the gun barrel.
The men met Mrs. Talucci on the top step.
“What happened?” Paul asked.
“Some big son of a bitch tried to break in the back door. I heard his footsteps on the porch. I was in my room reading. He must not have seen my light. I guess not sleeping much is a blessing in old age after all. I heard the noise. Took out my gun from under my bed and headed to the kitchen.”
Paul remembered Mrs. Talucci’s kitchen from the million times he’d been inside. The red gingham curtains, the copper bottomed pots and pans hanging from above the island, the gray, granite-covered counters.
“He was opening the back door when I flicked on the lights and let fly with a blast of buckshot. He was lucky I was aiming over his head. He was even more lucky he jumped back and that I waited a few seconds to fire the second blast. Aimed right at the son of a bitch.”
Paul asked, “Did you recognize him?”
“Big, burly son of a bitch.”
“Bigger than Fenwick?” Paul asked.
Ben said, “The Cardinal is getting even.”
Mrs. Talucci harrumphed. “That’s his third mistake.” Mrs. Talucci did the ka-ching thing with the shotgun. “The first was screwing with you and the investigation. The second was thinking he could get even. The third was this attack.”
Her niece asked, “Are you sure it was the Cardinal’s order?”
Mrs. Talucci gave her a grim smile.
Turner examined the back porch and ordered a forensic team to examine it. He saw what looked like flecks of blood on the steps going down. Back in his house, he got the boys settled and sank into bed next to Ben.