Chapter 13
Ali was sitting in her office, downing her second cup of coffee. When she woke up this morning Ashlyn was gone. She had left Ali a nice little thank you note with two x’s and two o’s at the bottom, along with a phone number. Last night had been kind of like a weird, blurry dream, and today she felt a little disoriented and out of it. Working a big case. Come home. Door ajar. Draw gun. Enter apartment. Ashlyn in her apartment. Making dinner. Dinner date. Drink wine. Talk. Make love. Fall asleep cuddling. With a woman who breaks the law and takes matters into her own hands. How it is that I haven’t hauled her in yet, I just don’t know, Ali thought. I mean, Christ, I’m a law enforcement agent. But…I just can’t seem to get myself to bring her in. This whole thing is just…well, she didn’t know what this whole thing was, and she was trying to work through that in her head when her phone rang.
“Krieger”, she answered.
It was Wambach. “Come down to my office.”
“Be right there”, Ali said, and hung up. Time to get back on the clock, she said to herself. She headed down the hall to Wambach’s office. Megan and Hope were already there.
“Close the door”, Wambach said as Ali walked in. Ali did so and then leaned back against the wall near the door.
“We’ve confirmed that both Giusseppe Marano and Kody Mitchell, along with all of their top dogs, are going to be present at this meeting”, Megan said.
“That’s right.” Hope nodded her head in confirmation.
“Alright”, Wambach said. “All three of you - assemble your teams. Krieger – you’re taking point. JOCT has the lead on this one. We’ll meet back here in my office in two days for a tactical briefing.” She looked at all three of them. “I want to net every single one of these guys.”
“Uh…okay…” Ali trailed off. Hope looked over at her as she did.
“Think the sniper will show up?” Megan asked the room.
“In a way I kind of hope so”, Hope said. “Maybe she” Hope emphasized the word ‘she’ and looked at Ali as she did, “can take out a few of these scumbags for us before we net the rest.”
“Cut it out”, Wambach said to Hope. “If this sniper shows up, we’re netting her – or him…whoever the hell it is – too.” Ali’s breath involuntarily hitched, and Wambach looked at her. “Krieger – you alright?”
“Yeah, yeah…I’m fine.”
“Alright”, Wambach said. She looked at the three of them. “Get to work.”
Ali walked back to her office and Megan headed for the FBI office. Hope walked behind Ali.
“Hey”, she said. “You got a minute?”
“Sure”, she said. “Come on in”. They both walked into Ali’s office. Ali sat down, but Hope remained standing. “What’s up?” Ali asked.
“Everything alright?” Hope asked.
“Y-y-yeah, uh…sure”, Ali said. “Why?”
“Because you seem distracted”, Hope said, staring at her. “And your breath caught when Wambach mentioned the sniper.” Hope was direct.
“No, no…I’m fine”, Ali said. “Just…tired.”
Hope eyed her. “Anything I should know about?”
“Uh…like what?”
“You tell me.”
“Um…no…not really.”
“Okay.” Hope leaned her hands on Ali’s desk and then said, “This is the biggest raid we’ve ever executed. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, to grab the top brass of the two biggest crime organizations in this city and bring them down.” She looked at her hard. “Just make sure you’ve got your head screwed on right.”
Ali exhaled deeply. “I’m fine. I’ll be fine.”
“Alright...alright. See you soon.” She stared at Ali for a moment longer and then turned around and left her office. Ali sat in her chair, took a deep breath and exhaled. Please, Ashlyn, don’t show up to this meeting, she thought. Just let us do our jobs, and we can end this whole thing without any more people getting killed…including maybe you.
********
Felipe Sosa walked into Da Crow Bar, a dive bar in Chicago’s Eastside neighborhood. Kody Mitchell sat at a table in the back. Since incorporating most of the city’s street gangs under the Disciple umbrella, he had expanded his territory, and now the Disciples had hangouts all over the city. Kody liked to move around and hold meetings in different places. You can never be too careful.
“All good?” Kody asked as Felipe sat down.
“We all good. Got soldiers ready. We’ll bring some heat to this meeting, just in case shit gets ugly with the greaseballs.”
“What about the woman from JOCT? Did you pay her a visit yet?” Kody was hoping so. He wanted to hear a good story.
“No, not yet. We were gonna go last night, but we had a problem down in Beverly area. Some muthafucka trying to sling dope under our radar. We took him.”
“He still alive?”
“Part of him is, maybe.” Felipe smiled. “We’ll get the JOCT woman tonight.”
“Cool”, Kody said. “Give her some extra hurt, for waitin’ a day.” He smiled.
Felipe smiled back. “You got it”, he said. He and Kody locked their hands in a serpentine shake, and then Felipe stood up and walked out of the bar.
********
Ali was sitting at her desk. She was supposed to be putting together the tactical plan for how JOCT, the FBI and the CPD were all going to work together to raid this meeting at the warehouse, but instead she was staring at the piece of paper that Ashlyn had left on her bed this morning. Should I call her? She wondered. I want to, but I shouldn’t. I’m falling for her, but she’s an assassin. But I want to, but I shouldn’t. But I’m falling…She was drifting in and out of that train of thought when her office phone rang.
“Krieger” she answered.
“So…dinner again, tonight?” It was Ashlyn.
“Ash–“ Ali stopped herself before saying Ashlyn’s full name. “What are you doing? You can’t call me here!” Ali hissed into the phone.
“What? Are you telling me that the lovers of other JOCT agents don’t call them at the office?” Ashlyn said, and Ali could tell she was smiling.
“Well, maybe they do, but their lov-“ Ali was about to say ‘their lovers aren’t suspects in the murders of five people’, and then thought to herself, ‘lover’, is it now?
“So…dinner again, tonight?” Ashlyn repeated.
“Another date? Already?” Ali asked.
“Well, I’ve been thinking about you” Ashlyn said. “A lot today. I don’t have a big case to occupy all of my time.”
“Well, if it wasn’t for you, I w-“ Ali was about to say, ‘I wouldn’t have a big case,’ but then remembered she was on the office phone. “Well, dinner depends”, Ali said.
“On what?”
“Will you be there in the morning when I wake up, Houdini?”
“I’m sorry. I really wanted to stay, but I had something to take care of”, Ashlyn lied. She actually hadn’t had anything to do, but she had left anyway. She was falling for Ali, falling hard, and she was pretty sure that Ali knew it, but on the other hand, she didn’t want to appear too lovestruck. Best to keep a little mystery, she thought. Plus, things were happening fast, and she needed a bit of time to think. Hence, the disappearing act this morning.
“I don’t even want to know what you needed to take care of.” Ali said.
“So, how about my place tonight?” Ashlyn asked.
“I…shouldn’t.”
“Ugh. Fine.” Ashlyn feigned exasperation. “We can either go out, or I can come to your place again.”
“Let’s just do that – my place again. Is that okay?”
”Yep. You let me know when you’re getting off work, and I’ll come over. Unless you want me to let myself in again and have dinner on the table for you when you get home.” Ashlyn giggled mischievously.
“You know what? Just surprise me.” Ali said, in a tone that was part defeated, part incredulous and part happy.
“Okay. See you tonight. Have a great day at work, beautiful.”
“Bye, you”, Ali said, then hung up the phone, smiling and shaking her head as she did.
********
Ashlyn opened her eyes and looked at the clock. It was 3am. After she had hung up the phone with Ali, she had considered sneaking into Ali’s place and surprising her with dinner again, but she had decided against it, so she had just waited for Ali to call her and tell her that she was leaving work. Ashlyn had asked her what she wanted to eat, and then had picked up takeout with dessert and another bottle of wine on the way over. She and Ali had eaten dinner and dessert at the kitchen table again, and then had skipped the couch and gone straight to the bedroom. That had been almost four hours ago. Ali had fallen asleep almost two hours ago, on her side again, with Ashlyn behind her, gently stroking her hair. Ali was lightly purring in her sleep. Ashlyn had hacked into the JOCT mainframe earlier today and saw that there was indeed a meeting set up between the Maranos and the Disciples. She saw that a combined team consisting of JOCT, the FBI and CPD was planning on raiding the meeting, and that Ali would be leading the raid. Ashlyn knew that, between their night together last night and running point on this raid, Ali would be wiped out. She also figured that this might be the last night she would see Ali for the next few days until after the raid, so she had taken the initiative and called Ali so she could see her tonight.
Now, laying in Ali’s bed, thoughts of their relationship were spinning in Ashlyn's head, and she was having trouble sleeping, so she gently kissed the back of Ali's neck and got up. Ali stirred slightly, and Ashlyn smoothed her hair. The streetlights on Ali’s block were out, but the pale moonlight dimly lit the apartment. Ashlyn stared at Ali’s sleeping form in the dimly lit bedroom and kissed her on the head, then walked to the living room. She kept the lights off and went to the balcony door. She was about to open the curtains covering the door and then open the door itself, but as a matter of habit she peeled the curtains back just a bit and looked out. She scanned the street as her hand went to pull the curtain rod. Halsted was a busy street, even at 3am. Ashlyn went to pull the rod when something caught her eye. Across the street and a few houses down, four men exited a car. One was carrying a duffel bag. Ashlyn stared at them, trying to make them out in the darkness. Something didn’t feel right. They waited for a car to pass them, and then they slinked across the street. Ashlyn noted the way they walked, and her senses heightened. Another car passed them going the other way. Ashlyn caught a glimpse of their faces in the headlight, and her eyes shot open. She recognized one of the faces. It was Felipe Sosa, one of the top lieutenants in the Disciples. She had seen his picture on the JOCT website. Ashlyn stared into the darkness at the four figures approaching, and her eyes narrowed into slits. There was only one reason these four men were here, less than half a block from Ali’s apartment and approaching. She stared for another moment as the men reached the sidewalk on Ali’s side of the street, and then she closed the curtains.
********
Felipe Sosa reached 1725 South Halsted. The woman’s apartment was on the second floor. He looked at his men and smiled. He had brought along three of his meanest, and a gym bag containing duct tape, pliers and a small blowtorch. This was going to be fun. He gave the men the nod, and they went through the gate and approached the main door to the apartment complex.
********
“Ali! Ali!” Ashlyn whispered loudly as she shook the sleeping brunette.
“W-w-w-what?” Ali said sleepily as Ashlyn rousted her.
“Someone’s coming for you”, Ashlyn said. “We got hostiles. Hurry up! Get up, put on some clothes, some shoes, and grab your gun.” Ashlyn quickly pulled on her jeans and tank top. She looked at her own shoes – black dress boots - and decided to stay barefoot. I should have gone with the combat boots look, she thought. Damn.
“W-w-what?” Ali said, as she jumped out of bed. She stumbled to her dresser, waking up quickly as the adrenaline flew into her veins. She put on a pair of jeans and a shirt, then put on a pair of running shoes. Then she went into the living room and pulled the 9MM off of the holster that was hanging next to her jacket on the door of her apartment. She checked the clip and then came back to the bedroom.
“Stay in the bedroom” Ashlyn said. Ashlyn moved quietly to the front door of Ali’s apartment and put her ear to it. She could hear footsteps – heavy male footsteps – coming up the stairs. She came back into the bedroom.
“Who is it?” Ali said. She was alert but not panicked.
Ashlyn admired her poise for a moment and then said, “Disciples.”
“How do you know that? And what are they doing here?”
“My guess is they're here to warn you off of raiding their meeting with the Maranos.”
Ali stared at her for a moment and then said, “Wait – how did you know there was a meeting? And how did you know we were going to raid it?”
“Shhhh”, Ashlyn said. “Where's your .22.”
“Ashlyn!” Ali said. “I can’t just give you a weap-“
“Shhhhh”, Ashlyn said. The footsteps had stopped, and someone was picking at the lock on the door. She looked at Ali. “Give me a fucking gun, baby”, she hissed.
Ali shook her head. “I can’t”, she said, almost apologetically. She also registered that Ashlyn had called her 'baby'.
Ashlyn stared at her in disbelief for a second, a look that said, I can’t fucking believe you still need to follow the goddamn rules even at a time like this, and then said, “Stay here”, and then started to walk out of the bedroom.
“Wait – where are you going?”
“I’m gonna kill these bastards”, Ashlyn said.
“Wait, Ashlyn – no!” Ali hissed, but Ashlyn was already on her way back out to the living room. Ashlyn stood behind where the front door would open and listened. She could hear someone still picking at the lock. She closed her eyes, slowed her breathing and ran the scenarios through her head. If they kicked the door open, she would go at the first man right away, and then take them out one by one. If they picked the lock, she would wait until they were all in and then take them all out as they stood in the middle of the living room. There were four of them, but Ali was armed, and they had the element of surprise. A gun in my hand would be nice right about now, Ashlyn thought, but oh well. Sometimes you go with what you have. These guys were bigger, but combat isn't about who's bigger - it's about who's better and who's more motivated, and Ashlyn was as good as anyone when it came to close-quarter combat, and…well, they were coming for her woman, so she was plenty motivated. These men were coming to hurt the woman she was falling in love with, and they were going to pay, gun or no gun in her hand.
Ashlyn opened her eyes and listened hard. She could hear Ali breathing heavy in the bedroom ten feet away. She heard the lock give way, and the door slowly opened. The first man entered, then the second, and then the third. Felipe Sosa came in last. They were all facing the other way from Ashlyn. Ashlyn stilled herself and counted three…two…one…
“Freeze!" Ali screamed, as she flipped on the living room light. She was standing in the doorway of her bedroom and had her gun trained on the four men. She had taken action because, despite whatever reason these men were here, she didn’t want anyone to get hurt unnecessarily. Her plan was to hold them up, then have Ashlyn call the police and then hold them at gunpoint until the police arrived. Ashlyn squinted for a second, her eyes shocked by the sudden light.
“Muthafucka!” One of the men said, as he and his associates put their hands to their eyes.
“Fuckin’ bitch!” Another one said. He started to draw his weapon. No such luck on her hoped-for plan, Ali thought, as she instinctually fired. She hit the man in the shoulder, and he dropped his gun and went down screaming, clutching the wound. The two other men besides Felipe drew their guns. Ashlyn, calculating that there was no way that Ali would be able to shoot both of them without getting shot, exploded into action. She sprung forward, her eyes now fully adjusted to the light, and kicked the gun out of the hands of the closest man. The man screamed as the bones in his hand shattered, then looked over towards Ashlyn, and as he did, Ashlyn delivered a vicious blow to the man’s neck. The man’s eyes went wide, and he made a gurgling sound and then fell to the floor. Ashlyn spun around to the third man, who had his gun almost in firing position. She lowered her level, shot in under his arm like a wrestler, and struck her palm against his knee. She heard the kneecap shatter, and the man howled in pain. Ashlyn came up hard and fast, striking the man in the groin. His legs buckled and he went down to his hands and knees, and as his face was on its way down, it met Ashlyn’s elbow on its way up. There was a crack, and the man fell face-first down onto Ali’s living room floor. Ashlyn grabbed his head and twisted it violently. There was another crack, and the man went limp. Ashlyn whirled around and saw Felipe Sosa lunging for the gun of the first man who had fallen. Apparently, Felipe hadn’t brought a gun. Ashlyn’s guess was that he was going to watch with delight as his three henchmen tortured Ali, and then he was going to have his way with her. That thought made her blood run cold. Felipe reached the gun, but just as he picked it up, Ali tackled him into a bookshelf. Felipe cursed but recovered and grabbed Ali’s hair, forcing her head back. He reached up with his gun hand to pistol whip the JOCT woman, but Ashlyn swooped in from the right, grabbed his wrist and twisted it backward, shattering the bones. Felipe screamed, and then Ashlyn put him in a crippling arm lock. She applied pressure and snapped Felipe’s arm at the elbow. Felipe screamed again, and then Ashlyn pivoted her body and threw him over her shoulder and onto the coffee table. It shattered, and Felipe went down on top of a mixture of broken glass and wood. Then Ashlyn kicked Felipe in the kneecap, effectively ending his ability to move anywhere.
“Fuckin’…bitch” Felipe moaned.
Ashlyn looked at him and bent down but she heard Ali say, “No!” She looked over at Ali, walked over to her and cupped her face.
“Are you okay, baby?” Ashlyn said.
Ali nodded but didn’t say anything. She was still trying to process what had just happened. Twenty seconds had passed. She had shot one man in the shoulder and tackled Felipe into the bookshelf. Ashlyn had killed two others and crippled a third, using just her hands. Ashlyn traced Ali’s line of vision back to the grisly scene in the living room. The man that Ali had shot was moaning on the ground, blood coming out of his wound. Felipe was still muttering curses. Ashlyn looked at him and started walking over to him when she spotted the gym bag that they had brought. She bent over, opened it up, and grimaced when she saw the contents. She stared into the bag for a few more seconds, and then walked over to Ali. She grabbed the gun out of Ali’s hands and walked over to Felipe. She knelt down and stared Felipe in the eyes, then aimed the barrel of the gun point blank in Felipe’s face and pulled the trigger.
“Jesus Christ!” Ali exclaimed.
Ashlyn looked at the fourth man, still moaning and lying on the ground. She put the gun to his temple and pulled the trigger.
“Ashlyn!” Ali yelled. “What the fuck?!”
Ashlyn looked at the four bodies lying on the floor, then looked up at Ali, who was staring at her, incredulous.