"Dad, no. I don't wanna wear a tux." Diego groaned.
"I would look great in whatever color you pick." Eva said.
"Hold on. This is why we're asking you guys. Do you feel comfortable with us having a wedding ceremony?"
"No." They said simultaneously.
"Well, uh..okay."
"I think it just needs to be us. The four of us, whoever Dad picks, whoever mo- Ana picks and that's it." Eva suggested.
"Yeah, that sounds good."
"I'm okay with that." We agreed.
"It's time for you two to get ready for bed. You will be up and on time for school, got it?"
"When did you become that dad?" Eva mumbled, getting up.
"What did you just say?"
"Goodnight, dad." She quickly went to her room.
"I swear she gets her mouth from her mother."
"And maybe a little from her father." He looked at me, shaking his head.
"Hey, I need to talk to you about something."
"Uh, yeah. What's up?" He asked.
"I've been-" his phone went off. He checked it, jumping up.
"I gotta go. I'll be back!" He quickly grabbed his coat and left before I could even protest.
I checked on the kids, going to lay down. I was exhausted even though I barely did anything today. As soon as laid down, I quickly fell asleep.
The next day, I sat at my desk, messing with the squishy ball I'd gotten from Nolan. Footsteps sounded, knocking me out of my thoughts.
"Good morning, ladies. This is Benji Keyes, known on the street as Benji Bones. Priors for possession with intent to distribute, concealed weapon, and has been ID'd as a street captain for his brother." Toni said, passing out Benji's file.
"Derek Keyes, number one on Chicago's most wanted. Narcotics estimates that over half the city's heroin comes from Keyes. Been after him for years. Every time they send in undercovers, they hit a wall."
"CI of mine gave up a location on Benji Bones. We grab him, he'll lead us to Derek." Toni said.
"This can't be a typical grab, 'cause if Derek finds out we're onto him, he'll dive deeper underground. So we got to extract Benji Bones without anybody knowing. That means everybody gets blacked out." Hank directed.
They grabbed Benji and, I'm guessing his boyfriend, bringing them in. Benji agreed to set up a meet with his brother as long as he and his companion got to walk free.
"Okay, here we go. Benji just confirmed the location of the meet. He's gonna intro Halstead to Derek as a potential buyer who can expand his market into the North Side. We get a deal on camera, we'll move in."
"Where's the meet?" Jay asked.
"Main terminal at Midway."
"That's a lot of moving parts. Planes, trains, vehicles, and the no-fly zone over the airport."
"Hey, it's Derek Keyes. We'll make it work." Hank nodded.
"That's right. Let's do it."
Everyone headed to the terminal, taking their positions. Halstead and Benji entered the airport while the rest of us sat our cars, waiting on Mouse.
"Is that camera up and running yet?" Hank questioned. A video popped up on the screen.
"Yeah, sir. We got audiovisual up and running." Benji walked past a guy who passed him something.
"Who was that?" Jay asked.
"Sarge, you want one of us to follow that guy?" Adam questioned.
"No, stay with Halstead."
"Yo, this wasn't the plan." Jay said.
"Listen, you want to meet Derek. It could be now or never."
"All right, I'm rolling with this."
Jay and Benji went through a door, approaching Derek and his guys.
"This him?" Derek asked.
"Yeah. Like I said, he got heavy paper."
"Benji says you used to ride with the Belz brothers."
"For a minute, up in Bucktown."
"Those crazy white boys still riding around with chainsaws in their trunks?"
"That's, uh, tradition. But I'm looking to stake a little piece of the world for myself."
"Where'd you disappear to last night?" Derek questioned Benji.
"What? I was home, man."
"This one told a different story." One of the other guys said. They dragged a guy in, face beaten and groaning.
"Your bodyguard says you disappeared for a couple hours. Funny thing is, you forgot to put your shoes on."
"Are we gonna do business here, or are we gonna settle a family dispute?" Derek reached in the bag, pulling a gun on Jay.
"Come on, man, what, are you gonna rob me?"
"We got a gun." Adam announced. Derek turned the gun on Benji.
"Come on, brother." Benji pleaded. Derek stared at him, pulling the trigger.
"Shots fired, shots fired."
"Everybody move in!" Hank announced.
"This way!" We ran through the building, getting stopped by security.
"Hey, hey, hey! Stop right there!"
"Listen, listen, we're CPD intelligence. We got a guy beyond this checkpoint." Adam held up his badge.
"We got to get through now. Now!" Voight shouted.
"Let them through." We ran through the door, down the hall.
"Body!" Benji laid on the ground, blood pouring from a bullet hole in his head.
"Central CPD Intelligence, we got a DOA, and an officer's been abducted." Toni reported.
-
"Sarge. This came from my CI. I'll take the hit." Toni said.
"Where we at with the SUV?"
"We've got all available patrol units searching. Problem is, there's no plates."
"Well, what about the TSA badges they used to get past security?" Hank asked.
"The badges were stolen from several employees yesterday. TSA didn't report them missing until this morning."
"Keyes shot and killed his own brother. What do you think he's gonna do to Halstead?" Adam said.
"How long do I have to be here?" Bianca, Benji's ex-girlfriend, asked.
"As long as it takes."
"That one of Benji's boys? I seen him around."
"Yeah, well, you're gonna get a lot of answers when this is all over. Right now I need you to tell me where Derek Keyes is." She shrugged.
"I don't know."
"He put a bullet in his own brother's head. He won't think twice about killing you."
"I didn't mean for this to happen." She cried.
"And yet here we are. Tell me where Derek Keyes is."
"I swear, I never met him." Trudy came up the stairs, stopping near them.
"Hank. I'm sorry, I don't mean to interrupt, but there's a very determined young man downstairs who says he wants to speak to you and you only."
Hank went downstairs, shortly after, coming right back up with a pink box. He opened the box, taking out a CD and a cell phone.
"Play it." Toni popped the CD in, playing the video.
One of the guys punched Halstead while the other tased him. They repeatedly did this until Toni paused the video. A few seconds after, the phone that came with the CD, rang.
"What do you want?" Hank asked. He was silent for a moment before ending the call.
"What'd he want?" Al asked.
"Halstead's life for all our CI files. We meet at the corner of 39th and California tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. He wants a lone female officer. No cameras, no wires, no weapons."
"That's easy, right? We hand over the files, right?" Adam said.
"Whoa, there's over 100 CIs in our database. A couple dozen are mine. Half got wives and kids. I'm not gonna have their blood on my hands if their names get leaked." Toni spoke.
"So you'd rather protect them and bury Jay?"
"Of course I wouldn't!" Toni got up, getting in Adam's face.
"Hey, hey, hey, hey. Just back off. Back off, guys, come on." Al got between them.
"Yeah, well, it ain't gonna get that far. Grab Mouse, start creating false files." Hank instructed before he left.
We created dozens of files, tweaking them to look realistic. After a while, the box was full. Hank came up the stairs, looking at the box.
"Where we at with the CI files?"
"All set, bogus CI numbers and criminal histories. We used photographs of inmates from Detroit and Indiana. No way Keyes can tell they're fake just by looking at them." Toni showed him some of the files.
"No more waiting, Sarge. It's 8:00 a. m. We got one hour till the drop." Kevin said.
"Okay, Ana, you're up."
"Hey." Al said. He handed me a small knife.
"It's ceramic. It's not much, but, you know, at least you won't be going in naked. And it won't set off any detectors if they wand you."
"Thanks, Al."
"Yeah."
I drove to the location, parking close to the corner. Getting out, I took the box out of the trunk, sitting it on the ground. Soon after, a black Escalade turned the corner, pulling next the me. One of the guys got out, searching me.
"You got what Derek wants?" The other guy asked.
"That's all of the Intelligence CI files. Where's Jay?"
"Let's say you hand over those files. We verify them, then we'll cut your boy loose." He shrugged.
"That wasn't the deal. Derek said the files for our guy. He said a straight trade." He pointed a gun out the window, turning the safety off. I stared at him.
"If I don't see Jay alive right now, I'm walking with the box."
"Guess you're going for a ride."
I got in the car with the box, not saying a word. We arrived at this nice house, getting out. I followed them inside, still holding onto the box.
"Boss. We got a guest. She wouldn't hand over the files unless she saw her boy." Derek smiled.
"Welcome." I sat the box on the desk, opening it.
"We held up our end." He looked at the files, nodding towards his guy.
"Go get him." Derek told him.
The guy came back, roughly pushing Jay before throwing him on the couch. Jay groaned, trying to get out of the restraints.
"Jay. It's okay." I took the duct tape off his mouth.
"Ana."
"All right, come on, we're getting out of here." One of the guys cocked his gun.
"Hold up. Ain't no way either one of you is walking out of here, not until these files check out." He walked off. I looked at Derek.
"How did you think this was gonna play out? You kidnap a Chicago police officer? It just doesn't seem like a smart business move."
"I got what I asked for, didn't I? And what do you know about my business?" Derek asked.
"I know that if you're worried about a rat in your organization, it's already too late."
"Derek. You're not gonna like this." The guy said, walking up the desk.
"What?"
"Been through a dozen of these so far. Not finding much that lines up. This guy, he's doing time in Michigan, but his photo doesn't match his name. This one, he's on parole in Indiana for a DUI, when the report says he's supposed to be some heavy hitter with the cartels."
"So what, you thought you could bring me a box full of lies?" Derek questioned, standing up.
"Look, I brought the box that they gave me. If you want, I'll make a call." He shook his head.
"I'm done making calls. Do him first, and make her watch."
"Hey, come here." I helped Jay sit up before the guy pulled me away.
I grabbed the knife from my pants. Derek grabbed Jay, walking towards the door. I quickly turned around, stabbing the guy in his torso.
He aimed his gun but I grabbed it, pointing it upward. I continued stabbing him until he grabbed me, throwing me into the glass table.
He wrapped his hands around my throat, squeezing tightly. I grabbed the knife still embedded in his skin, twisting it. His body went limp. Derek ran towards his desk, I grabbed the gun, shooting him in the shoulder.
"Don't move. You're under arrest." He looked at the gun on his desk.
"I will drop you. Don't think about it." Smirking he went for it, I fired 3 shots; his body fell to the floor.
I cut Jay loose, going to the door. Slowly opening it, I stepped out, seeing the team lowering their guns.
"Ana, you okay?" Toni asked.
"Yeah."
The paramedics helped Jay while other officers got on the scene. I walked over to the ambo. One of the paramedics checked me out before clearing me. Jay sat, holding his side and staring at me.
"What?" I asked.
"You know, for once, I'm so glad to see your ugly face." He smirked.
"You're lucky I got to go wash this off, otherwise, it'd be me and you, right now.."
"You don't want these problems."
"Please, Halstead. You're already bruised enough."
"Yeah." He chuckled.
"Thanks for saving me."
"Rounds are on you at Molly's."
"You got it." He smiled.