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° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° Deegan Part ii Following Barboza’s testimony, a convoy of police vehicles escorted him back to Walpole without incident. Word of his betrayal had not been leaked to the public, but it soon would. Law enforcement officials feared that this news would inevitably trigger a bloodbath within the walls of Walpole State Prison, where Raymond Patriarca maintained a high level of influence over inmates and, in some cases, prison guards. A decision was made by Suffolk County district attorney Garrett Byrne to transfer Barboza from Walpole to the Barnstable House of Corrections on Cape Cod to ensure his safety. Joe’s wife, Claire, and their daughter, Stacy, were also placed under the protection of the U.S. Marshal Service. John Partington, the U.S. Marshal whom Raymond Patriarca had once referred to as a boy scout, was assigned the task of protecting Barboza’s family at their home in Swampscott. Claire Barboza was suspicious of Partington from the outset and asked him to define the parameters of the arrangement. “What’s expected of me, and what are you going to do?” she asked.100 Partington shrugged and honestly told her that this kind of arrangement was new to him also, and that they would have to make it up as they went along. Claire Barboza was not at all what Partington had expected in a mob wife. She was petite and refined and looked no different from the wife of a banker, doctor, or lawyer. It was hard for Partington to fathom that this somewhat elegant woman was married to a murderous animal. The marshal felt the same way about Stacy. How could someone so evil also produce something so beautiful? The youngster reminded Partington of Shirley Temple with a head full of curls that joyously bounced like a circus parade as she walked. Unlike her mother, Stacy Barboza was taken with the marshal almost immediately. She climbed up on his lap and peppered him with questions that were mostly geared 16 There is no hiding place. No where to run, no where to escape° foreigner 156° casey sherman to her cat Oby. Partington had not been aware the child had a pet, and as harmless as the cat appeared, it could pose a problem with the family ’s protection. The marshal understood that the stakes were extremely high with this assignment and that the Office would go to any lengths to prevent Barboza from testifying further. If they somehow managed to kidnap Joe’s daughter, there is no doubt the Animal would do anything they asked in hopes of getting her back safely. If by chance Stacy followed the feline off property, she would be at risk of being abducted. Partington would have to place Oby under house arrest during the course of this assignment. He had thought about taking the cat away but understood that Stacy was attached to her pet, and it was his job not only to protect the family but also to make them as comfortable as possible under his watchful eye. Partington had second thoughts about the cat soon after, when it escaped into the neighborhood. The marshal had to send other members of the protective detail from street to street, but they had no luck corralling the fugitive feline. At day’s end, Oby finally returned with a mouse in its mouth and placed it at Partington’s feet. The marshal made up his mind right then that the cat would stay. He faced other problems, however, from his own colleagues, who constantly complained about protecting a mobster’s family. Partington had to remind them that little Stacy Barboza had never harmed anyone and deserved to be kept out of harm’s way. He also had to remind himself not to get too close to Claire Barboza. Even a hint of impropriety would be hard to explain away to his fellow marshals and to Claire’s husband. With that in mind, Partington recruited students from nearby Radcliffe College to serve as matrons, and also convinced his own wife, Helen, to stay with them so that Claire would have someone to talk to and confide in if she felt the need. Meanwhile, Joe was having his own difficulty adjusting to his new home at the Barnstable House of Corrections, overlooking the cold waters of Cape Cod Bay. Barboza was housed in protective custody all by himself in the women’s section of the prison. Soon after his arrival, he was visited by his lawyer...

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