Yn's POV
"Should we run through it one more time?" Adam asked.
Jay nodded. "The targets are the Becerra Brothers, Enrique and Hector."
"I've bought from these guys three times, so it should be nice and easy. Nine grand gets us that eighth. We'll make the exchange, give you guys the positive, and then take them down and book them before lunch," Adam declared.
"Copy that," I say from the back of the security van.
"Yeah, one problem. You look like Paul Bunyan," Jay pointed out.
"That's what I was going for. Paul Bunyan was a handsome giant, so thank you," Adam commented as him and Jay climbed out of the van, leaving Kim, Kevin, and I alone.
"It was cool seeing Makayla at the park the other day," Kevin brought up. "It was good to see her laugh."
"Yeah. She's the strongest person I know. I love it. I really do. And, um, I can barely crawl into bed at the end of the day and that's when everything goes perfect," Kim explained.
"You know, it probably wouldn't hurt to have another pair of hands," I suggest. "Have you thought about bringing Adam into this?"
"Yeah, I have," Kim replied. But before she could elaborate, Adam and Jay said that they were ready to go, so the three of us turned our attention to the monitors on the one side of the van. Things started off good. Jay and Adam showed the Becerra brothers the cash, and they went to go grab the drugs. But everything went south when the gunfire sounded. Kim, Kevin, and I all looked at each other before rushing out of the car and down the alleyway. "5021 Eddie, 10-1, 10-1! Shots fired at the police! We're at the 4200 block of South Justine. We've got undercover officers taking fire."
"Eddie, are there officers hit?" the dispatcher asked.
"Unknown. Approaching now," Kim responded.
"Jay, Adam!" I call out as we rounded the corner.
"Guys, we're okay," Jay spoke once we saw that him and Adam hadn't been hit.
"The shooter is in a silver pickup fleeing southbound," Adam informed us.
"5021 David, officers are not hit. I repeat, officers are not hit. Offenders fled southbound on Justine in a silver pickup," Kevin said over his radio. Once that was all sorted out, I hugged Jay tightly.
"You sure you're okay?" I question.
"Yeah. I'm fine," Jay answered and kissed my forehead. "We should get Voight and Hailey down here."
"Already on it," Kim exclaimed and pulled out her phone.
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"So where are we?" Voight asked.
"I got a partial from the shooter's vehicle that fled southbound. CPIC's running it down. It matched a newer-model Silverado," Kevin replied.
"Any shell casings?" Voight quizzed.
"19 so far. Assault rifle. Green tip .223s," Kim stated.
"Have Forensic bag, tag, and hand-deliver them to Ballistics," Voight ordered. "Well, we know these two victims are gang-affiliated meth dealers, so hit the streets. Look for beefs, anniversary shootings, all of it. Get me PODs and ShotSpotters. Hey, whoever did this damn near took out two of our own. Don't forget that." Back at the district, we began to present the information that we had.
"This is the closest ShotSpotter to the shooting. It looks like someone else got there first," Hailey said as we watched a video of someone shooting out the camera.
"It's from 2300 hours. That's the night before it went down," Jay disclosed.
"Well, that tells us that the shooting was calculated and planned. What else you got?" Voight asked.
"Nothing actionable. I talked to some of the victims' people. They say they don't know what's going on or who did this," Kevin responded.
"Okay. Anything on the shooter's car?" Voight questioned.
"CPIC pieced together the plate from the hot sheet, and it looks like the vehicle was stolen three days ago. We lodged BOLOs, but most likely, the vehicle's torched to the rims by now," I note.
"Okay, OCD busted into two burners found at the Becerra Brothers' place. These are the texts on their phones. 'You sell, you die.' 'I warned you.' 'Muerte.' Dead," Kim read aloud from the paper she was looking at.
"There's dozens of them," Adam continued. "Someone threatened to kill the Becerra Brothers if they didn't get out of the meth game and then they made good on it."
"Okay, can we trace the texts?" Voight quizzed.
"Not to a person," Kim replied. "The texts were sent burner-to-burner. But to a neighborhood? Yes. OCD puts them in and around Garfield Park."
"Yeah, and one of my best CIs, Tommy Lane, he's a meth guy in Garfield Park," Adam stated.
"Pay him a visit," Voight commanded. So, Adam talked to his CI Tommy, who was going to get us a deal with Logan Teague, a big meth distributor in the area. The thing was, Voight needed Adam to pick someone to go with him. I thought he was going to pick Kim, but things turned out differently.
"Hey. You wanna come undercover with me?" Adam asked as I was grabbing my jacket from the locker room.
"Me? I thought you'd ask Kim," I exclaim and throw my jacket on.
"Well, you thought wrong. You're my number 1. So, what do you say? Please," Adam begged.
I pursed my lips. "I don't know, Adam."
"Please, Yn," Adam pleaded. "I promise everything will go smoothly."
I sighed. "Okay. Fine. I would love to go undercover with you. It'll be just like the old days. And look, whenever you and Kim sort out what's going on between the two of you, I will take you back as my partner with open arms."
Adam laughed. "What about Kevin?"
"I love Kevin. But he's not you. Now, lets go do this deal," I say.
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"Wait, what are your names supposed to be again when we get over there?" Tommy asked.
"It's Mike and Sarah. You're going to remember that, right? Now, when we get there, you're just making introductions. Don't act like you're back in the game. You felt like a meet would be good for me, you get a little taste, and then after that, you've gotta do what you're not so good at. Shut the hell up and let us do the talking," Adam explained.
"Is he always this bossy?" Tommy questioned.
"Only when he needs to be," I reply and follow Tommy into an alley.
"Hey, Logan," Tommy greeted. "What's up, man? Is that for me?" Tommy nodded to the meth in Logan's hand.
"Yeah. Smoke on up while we're hanging out," Logan answered.
Tommy smiled. "Have I ever told you that I love you, man?" And then, he reached out, took the drugs, and inhaled them. I glanced over at Adam, who met my scared gaze with a reassuring one. While the thought was comforting, I was still freaking out. Dealing with CIs always got me on edge, but this one had just taken drugs, so I was even more uneasy.
"So, I understand you're in a bit of a pickle," Logan disclosed.
Adam frowned. "What do you mean?"
"What, Tommy didn't tell you he called me and gave me a heads-up on your issues?" Logan questioned.
'He did not, no," Adam replied.
"Tommy, you've gotta tell people when you're sharing their business," Logan stated.
"Oh, yeah, sorry. So I told Logan how you guys are moving product up from the suburbs. I also told him about our little supply problem, you know, how the Mexicans, the Players, you know, are scared as hell after getting shot up the other day. And look, man, we don't need to know what's up, all right? It's above our pay grade. But we do need to know what's down as in we need a new supplier," Tommy informed Logan.
"That's about the long and short of it," I say.
"You talking about the Becerra Brothers? Over New City way? Yesterday's news, literally. There's a new sheriff in town. Indiana boy. Monahan. He's got beaucoup product to move. Made in the USA, too," Logan told us.
"Oh, all right. Well, shoot, that sounds like a guy we should know," Adam exclaimed.
"How much product do you two think you can move out in the suburbs?" Logan asked Adam and I.
"Half a pound a day, easy," I respond as Adam opened the bag he was holding to reveal some money.
Logan nodded when he saw the money. "I'll get in touch with Monahan and see if I can get the ball rolling."
"That's what we wanted to hear, man. That's what I came to you for. All right, I will leave you be, man. Have a good one," Tommy said.
"Great seeing you, bro. See you, Tommy," Logan called out as we walked away. So Adam sent Tommy on his way, and when we climbed into the Jeep, I crossed my arms over my chest. Adam noticed my odd behavior and glanced at me confusingly, but said nothing. However, a few minutes into the drive, he broke the silence.
"What?" Adam questioned.
I scoffed. "You know what."
"Actually, I don't," Adam claimed.
"Your CI went rogue, and it could've gotten us killed. You know how nervous I get around CIs, especially when they aren't my own. The only reason I agreed to go undercover with you was because you said everything was going to run smoothly. Except it didn't. If I'd have known Tommy was going to be this reckless, I would've told you no," I growl.
"Yn I-"
I cut Adam off as he parked the car in the district's lot. "Save it." And with that, I climbed out of the Jeep and stormed away.
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"Indiana State Police confirmed the ID of the man we believe killed the Becerra Brothers. His name's Keith Monahan. He sold mountains of crystal meth in Muncie, and he's here now. Indiana's intel says he's here to stay. They're pretty happy he's our problem now," Hailey added.
"They've linked this guy to ten murders, but Monahan is smart and he's calculated. He probably knows where to hide the bodies, so he's one step ahead of them all the time. They got him on two gun charges which are both misdemeanors, so he's got virtually no record," Jay informed us.
"All right, let's keep chasing the drug angle. We'll get this son of a bitch off the street that way. Then we'll make the murders. So, what else?" Voight asked.
"Logan Teague made contact with Monahan. We fronted like we wanted to move some real weight, so Monahan's pretty interested. I got a dry meet on the books with Tommy, my CI, Logan, Yn, and myself," Adam started.
"Count me out," I state. I then sat down at my desk without further explanation and avoided Adam's gaze. I knew he wanted to say something, but he didn't, and instead went about talking about the case.
"So," Adam continued. "Logan wants to see money, he wants to know that we're capable, he wants to set rules and prices, then he'll make the meet with Monahan."
"Okay, let's do it," Voight said. As the team went their separate ways, Jay made his way over to my desk and took a seat atop the wooden surface.
"What's going on between you and Adam?" Jay questioned.
I waved him off. "Nothing. We're fine."
"Yn," Jay began.
"Jay, I don't want to talk," I interrupt. "So please just drop it, okay?"
Jay went to say something, but stopped himself and nodded. "Okay. Whatever you want. Just know that if you need to get something off your chest, I'm here."
"Believe me, I know," I murmur and turn to my work. That afternoon, another meth dealer, Ramon Santiago, was killed, and chances were Keith Monahan was the killer. Adam got Tommy to reach out to Logan again, but this time, things didn't go as smooth as the last time, and Adam and Logan got into a little fight, which ended up with the rest of the team moving in. Now, we had Logan in custody, and no meeting with Monahan, so we were pretty behind on the case. Good news though, Adam talked to Logan and got him to set up a meet, which meant we were back on track. The bad news was that Adam had to go in with Tommy, who was so deep into withdrawal that he could barely stand up straight. Adam promised that he would get Tommy into a good position though, and now, the rest of us were stationed around an abandoned warehouse waiting for the both of them to show up.
"Everybody listen up. We surveilled the site, we all know our jobs, but we didn't pick this spot. There's a lot we don't know including how much resistance to expect. Don't forget Ruzek's in there naked. He's got no weapon. Let's make sure everyone goes home tonight," Voight said over the radio.
"We've got security," Jay informed everyone. "Two guys armed to the teeth." I listened intently from my spot in my car parked on the side of the street. Hailey was with Voight, Kim was in the van with Kevin, and Jay was sniper. It was nice to get some time alone after everything that happened this past week, so I was very much enjoying myself at the moment. "All right, here we go." The deal started off well, and once the product was exchanged, we moved in.
"Sarge, I'm gonna go find Adam," I tell Voight, who nodded in response. I drew my gun and ran into the warehouse, taking a quick look around. When I didn't see anything, I sprinted down another hallway and out the back door just in time to see Monahan shoot Tommy, which in return caused Adam to unload a few bullets into Monahan. I ran over to them as fast as I could, holstering my gun. "Adam! You okay?"
"I'm fine," Adam assured me and knelt down next to Tommy, putting pressure on the gunshot wound to his chest.
"Sarge, we found him at the east end! Shots fired, offender down! Adam is okay," I notify Voight before switching to all channels on my radio. "5021 Union, we've got a man down, GSW to the chest." Tommy ended up dying, which I knew Adam was going to take to heart, so I went to look for him once my shift was over. I ended up finding him in the locker room sitting on one of the benches, and I took a seat in front of him.
"I screwed up," Adam confessed. "I hesitated. I just had all these voices in my head. You know, rules and what's not right or wrong, the perception of right or wrong, and all that crap and I don't have my piece. Carrying a rifle that's used to murder four people. This guy's not pointing the gun at me, he's pointing a gun at Tommy. And so what the hell do I know? What do I know? I can't trust my instincts anymore. And I think I had a lawful shoot out there."
"You did," I confirm and reach forward, taking my hand in his.
"I know. I know," Adam repeated. "Yet I hesitated and I didn't pull the trigger until after he shot my friend."
"Look, Adam. We're running point on a whole new thing here. And I get that it's especially hard for you, since you basically learned from Voight and Al, both of whom had their own way of doing things. These new rules, they're not going to be easy. Not when you've got, what, a half a second to decide whether to take one guy's life in order to save another? I'll tell you one thing, right is still right, Adam," I explain. "I think we're all going to be stumbling around in the dark for a while, but at least we'll be doing it together." Once I had finished talking, Adam leaned forward and wrapped me in a hug, which was kind of difficult because of the way we were sitting, but I didn't mind. I just sat there and embraced him, because that's what Adam needed right now. A friend. And whenever he needed me, I would be there, no matter the situation.