Chapter 16
Ali was sitting in her office. She was looking at the phone number on the note that Ashlyn had left her the morning after she had slept over, and she was debating whether or not to call it. Ashlyn had called her cell again this morning, but Ali hadn’t picked up. She was still thinking things over. She really did like Ashlyn, and again, there were so many wonderful things about her, but she still wasn’t sure how she felt about balancing all of those wonderful things with what she had seen the night before last. She had told herself that she wouldn’t think about Ashlyn until after the raid, but now that the meeting between the Maranos and the Disciples was off, she was thinking about calling her and talking things out. I just don’t know what to do, she thought. I should just call her. Maybe just talking with her, or even seeing her in person, will help me make a decision on what to do, or how I feel. I’ll call her tonight, after work, Ali thought. I guess what I really need to do is figure out for myself if I can deal with the fact that I know she can operate like that with no regard for the law-
“Hey, Krieger." Ali heard the voice and a knock on her door. She looked up and saw Hope. “Got a minute?”
“Yeah, sure”, Ali said. “Come on in.” Hope came in and closed the door. “What’s up?”
“Talk to me”, Hope said.
“About what?”
“Talk to me about this sniper.” Hope took a seat on the other side of Ali’s desk and looked Ali in the eye. “Look, I know you know who she is. I know you’ve seen her, and I’ve got a gut feeling that somehow you know her better than you’ve been letting on.” Ali was silent, so Hope continued. “Now, I don’t care what you guys have going on, law or no law, but after the shit that went down two nights ago in your apartment, and after finding Felipe Sosa and his men in that car, this whole thing is about to get a lot more dangerous." Ali remained silent, so Hope continued to press forward. "Look, I know things didn't go down in your apartment the way I took your report. So, I need to know everything about everything regarding this whole situation. So, if you have anything I should know, you need to tell me now.” Hope leaned forward and put her elbows on Ali’s desk. “No more fucking games, Krieger. Our lives could be on the line.”
Ali looked at Hope for a moment. Then she looked down, exhaled, and then looked back up at Hope. “I know the sniper.”
Hope stared at Ali for a moment, and then said, “Tell me everything.” Hope sat and listened as Ali told her about how she had met the sniper, Ashlyn Harris, outside of Marangos, how she had gone on a date with Ashlyn, how she had felt herself falling for Ashlyn, how Ashlyn had surprised Ali by breaking into her apartment and making dinner, how Ashlyn had spent the night, how Ashlyn had come over the next night, the night the Disciples had shown up, how Ashlyn had woken her up right before they had entered Ali’s apartment, and then how Ashlyn had exploded into action.
“So, the sniper – Ashlyn – is ex-Army Special Forces, and it was her who took out the four Disciples in your apartment?”
“Well, I did shoot one of the guys in the shoulder. But yes, Ashlyn took out the rest of them. And then she finished off the guy I shot in the shoulder with a point-blank shot to the temple. Also”, Ali said, “There was a fifth man, outside. He called up from the street for Sosa when he heard the shots. Ashlyn went out onto the balcony and took a few shots him. He started running away, for his car across the street. He got in and drove off, but I think Ashlyn might have hit him.”
“She shot him from your balcony? As he was running away?”
“Yeah.”
“With what?”
“My piece. It was the only gun that either of us used that night”, Ali said.
“Your 9MM?”
“Yeah.”
“Damn. Nice shot.” Hope was silent for a moment and then said, “So, where Ashlyn she now?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t talked with her since she left my apartment, like 36 hours ago.”
“Why not?”
“Because…” Ali trailed off.
“Because what?” Hope asked.
“”Because…I don’t know…I was…unnerved…seeing her take out four guys by hand and close-up shots to the head.”
“Hmmm”, Hope said. She appeared to be thinking for a moment. “And why haven’t you told me about you and her already?”
“Why?” Ali asked. “Because I figured you’d haul me in for harboring a suspect. Or at the very least you’d be really pissed.”
“Krieger – you’re the one who’s the by-the-book stiff. You know I personally don’t care if she takes out every single one of the Marano family and the Disciples. I pretty much said that in the meeting with Wambach. You know how bad I want these guys, and honestly, I don’t care if they end up behind bars or under six feet of dirt. But, we should at least know what Ashlyn’s up to. The last thing we want is for her to pop up at some operation we’re running, and have her somehow be involved in killing or wounding some of our men."
“She wouldn’t shoot any of our men, Hope”, Ali defended Ashlyn.
“Right, but if we’re running an operation, and she shows up and starts picking off bad guys, the other side might panic and start opening fire, shooting anyone that moves.”
“Okay. I get that.”
“Look - talk to her. You know my position now. I'm not gonna haul you in for harboring a suspect or anything like that, but I need to know what she’s planning before we figure out what we’re going to do next, so we can let her know whether or not to show up.”
“Okay, I’ll call her, but she may not listen to me”, Ali said. “In case you haven’t noticed, she kind of does what she wants.”
Hope stood up. “Well, if your relationship is as you say it is, she should at least hear you out.” She looked at Ali for another moment and then walked out of her office.
********
Ashlyn was sitting in her car, parked just outside the federal building. She had called Ali's cell again earlier this morning, but Ali hadn’t answered. Right about now, Ashlyn was debating just going inside the building and walking into Ali’s office, just so she could see her. She would talk with Ali and her partners and Wambach and come clean. Maybe that would smooth things over with Ali? Ashlyn thought. Ali would then turn her in and then maybe go to bat for her. Maybe she could make something work, and then we could be together? It sounds like a movie ending, Ashlyn thought, but I just can’t help thinking like that. Earlier in the day, Ashlyn had hacked into the JOCT database again. She had been looking at Ali’s profile, especially her picture, and then had looked in her notes and noticed that the Marano/Disciple meeting had been called off by the Disciples. Ali had been right. They had called it off, and they had called it off because Ashlyn hadn’t done the smart thing. Thinking back on it, what Ashlyn should have done was to wake Ali and hustled her down the fire escape out the back. The Disciples would have come in and found the apartment empty. They would have carried on with their meeting, and then Ashlyn could have showed up and killed them all. Now, they were spooked. Who knows when they’ll meet again? Yes, Ashlyn thought, I let my emotions get the best of me. I was angry that they were going to hurt the woman I'm falling for, as anyone would have been, but the professional in me should have thought it through and taken the smarter route.
Ashlyn sat in her car thinking, continuing to think. What to do? Should I just go home, or should I go up?
********
Kody Mitchell arrived at the destination for their newly scheduled meeting. With him were Dominik, Terrell, and fifty of their street soldiers. The Maranos were on their way over now. Once they were set, Kody would have Scout put the word on the street that they were meeting. Scout knew people who would make sure that Solo got the word quickly. Solo and the JOCT woman and that punk at the FBI would rush over so as not to miss them, with a minuscule amount of backup. The combined Disciple and Marano army would shoot the unis and then grab the three pigs and start putting the hurt on them. The sniper bitch would come running, and then they’d waste ‘em all. Terrell’s men were already lacing the warehouse with gasoline. After they killed the pigs and the sniper, they would torch the warehouse. No survivors. Lots of fried bacon, and one cooked sniper. And that would be that.
Mitchell heard the warehouse gate open. He looked over and saw a dozen black vehicles roll in, and he smiled. Soon, they would be rid of the pigs and the sniper. And then, soon after that, he would be rid of the Marano family. And then he would own the city.
********
Ali was sitting in her office. It was a bit past 8pm. She was partly finishing up some paper work, and partly stalling on going home, because she had told herself she was going to call Ashlyn when she got home, and she was still unsure of exactly what she was feeling, what to say or how to say it. She was sitting there, devoting half of her brain to each task, when Hope and Megan barged in.
“Krieger”, Hope started. “We got word on another meeting.”
“What? Already?” Ali said.
“Yup. I just got the lead from a CI. The Maranos and the Disciples are meeting at the warehouse on Clinton Street, near Chinatown in thirty minutes.”
“That’s not enough time to organize a raid party”, Ali said.
“We won’t need one”, Hope said. “It’s just the heads – Giusseppi and Frankie Marano, Lippenzo, and Mitchell, Lancaster and Jackson. Maybe a few bodyguards. I’ll call in some unis to back us up.”
“Just the six of them? And maybe some body guards?” Ali asked. “Why are they meeting at a warehouse if it’s that few of them?” Something didn’t feel right to her.
“Who knows”, Hope said. “They move around all the time. Maybe they figured they’d meet there because they figured we wouldn’t be looking there for a small meeting.”
“Okay”, Ali said. “I’ll let Wambach know we’re moving.”
“There’s no time”, Megan said. "We just walked past her office. She’s not here. We gotta move now. We can call her when we're en route.”
“Guys – hold up”, Ali said and then thought for a moment. “Something doesn’t feel right. Every time these two parties have met before, they’ve always taken time to set it up, and then it’s taken us time to find out about. How is it that we found out about this one so quickly?"
“Like I said, a CI of mine just called it in. He says it’s hot”, Hope said.
“I don’t know”, Ali said, unsure. “It kind of feels like…like they leaked it to us…or something...” she trailed off.
“Why would they do that?” Hope asked.
“Maybe the guy that Ashlyn shot who got away said something?” Ali brought up.
“Like what?” Megan said. Hope had filled Megan in on what Ali had said about Ashlyn.
“Maybe he saw Ashlyn. Maybe he said something to Mitchell. Maybe Mitchell somehow put it together that whoever shot at their man who got away is the sniper who’s been killing all of them off”, Ali said.
“Too dark”, Hope said. “All he would have seen was a silhouette. There’s no way he would have been able to tell who shot at him. As far as he knows, you killed Sosa and his three henchmen, and then shot at him, and he barely got away with his life.”
“So, I shot him with a 9MM from my balcony as he was halfway down the street, running? I’m not that good of a shot. Most people aren’t.” Something was bothering Ali, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. How did Hope find out about this meeting so quickly? Why did they find out so close to the meeting time? And, if the Maranos and the Disciples leaked it, what reason would they have for doing so? Ali sat there for a moment, thinking, and then said, “Guys, look – I’ve got an uneasy feeling about this. I mean, I want these guys as bad as you do, but…it’s like, we’re charging into this, a meeting that we just learned about, and it’s supposedly a small meeting but being held at a large warehouse. It just feels like we’re being set up.”
“Why would they be trying to set us up now? What’s the point now, as opposed to any other time?” Megan asked.
Ali couldn’t quite put it together, but the whole thing just felt…wrong. Is it possible that, somehow, Mitchell or Marano put it together that Ashlyn was over at my place, and that somehow, I’m connected to her? Mitchell and old man Marano are assholes, but they're smart, Ali thought.
“Guys, if we’re going to do this, we need to move now”, Hope said, checking her clip.
“Hope – hold on. I'm nervous about not having enough backup-"
“We gotta go now. I want to be set up and in place before they arrive. We can pull unis from the 18th precinct near Chinatown. They can provide enough backup, if it’s just the leadership plus a few guards”, Hope said, already heading out the door. “C’mon – we can’t miss this opportunity. We don’t know when they’ll meet again.”
Megan turned to leave as well. “I agree. Usually I’d want to take more time to prep, but we can’t risk missing this opportunity. We'll pull as much backup as we can on the way. Let’s go.”
Ali rose from her chair. Something just didn’t feel right. She grabbed her jacket and was about to follow Hope and Megan out, when the note from Ashlyn that was on her desk caught her eye. A troubling thought crossed her mind, and she stared for a second.
“Krieger! We need to move. Now!” Hope called from down the hall.