Disclaimer: Nope, Nada, Zilch, and when hell freezes over! Sorry it's so short; I wanted this to work for the myriad of challenges on PP & BS the past few months, but my muse went AWOL and refused to return until now. Stupid muse! I should probably say that there are spoilers in this story up to Twelve Sharp (better late than never, right?), since the series ended there for me. Huge thanks to Cara for the brainstorming and the beta work, as well as getting my ass kick-started.

I'd like to dedicate this chapter to Daniel McGuiness, who lost his fight with CF today, June 30, 2010. Rest in peace Danny, and may your parents find comfort in the knowledge that your pain has ended.

Locked Up & Pissed Off – pt 38

Lester's POV – The Takedown, part 1

'OPERATION: SNAKEDOWN'. HOW APROPOS. That fucker'd been playin' his game on the whole community for way too long, and using Steph in the process. I'd be glad when he was shut down for the last time; we all needed a chance to breathe again without the unwelcome prospect of the cop jumping back into the game again. He'd gotten on my left nerve for the last time, and I know for a fact Ranger wasn't about to put up with any more of his shit again.

I knew I'd always given Bomber static about her being no fun because she didn't like getting shot or arrested, and normally I looked forward to risky takedowns with a certain perverse joy, but I wasn't all that enthused about this one. When it's family being threatened it's hard to keep it impersonal, and since it's Steph, we're into Double Jeopardy here. All of us were on pins and needles, and Ranger? My cousin was just about ready to start shooting if anyone so much as looked at Bomber funny, and at the time I'd hazarded a guess that that would've included anyone we happened to run into. She, on the other hand, was pissed and focused; probably the first time those two emotions surfaced at the same time. I half looked forward to what she had planned to do once she confronted the cop; that is, after Ric had finished with him. I'd say the odds were fifty-fifty on which one of them was going to damage him the worst.

We all headed out in separate cars; Steph, Ranger and Marcus in the Cayenne; Tank, Slick & Erik in Tank's Hummer; Cal, Ram & Manny in an Explorer; Zero, Bobby & Roy in a Bronco; Brett, Caesar & Junior in another Bronco; and Hector, Binkie & I in the remaining Bronco. I wasn't sure who Frank'd show up with, but I was pretty sure he'd have his own backup with him. It was anyone's guess if Gazarra would be bringing anyone else, but odds were he'd be flying solo. We wouldn't be counting on the presence of anyone else at the TPD, since no one else was privy to the investigation. Besides, they'd probably all side with the cop; that is, unless they'd be willing to take the warrant into account until the case was brought out into the open. We'd be better off playing this close to the vest until the bastard was in custody. I wouldn't put it past his buddies to give him the head's up if they got wind of our intentions to take him in.

We'd fanned out in different directions; the plan was to converge on Morelli from all possible angles so he wouldn't have any chance to escape. Our last bit of Intel was that he was holed up at his house, and since we'd had Vince and Woody shadowing him since yesterday, we were confident that the takedown would occur there. Zip and Eddie were combing the cop's usual haunts just in case he managed to slip past them. The cop was a cagey son of a bitch, and regardless of how good as our guys were, he could well outsmart them if given the right opportunity.

Brett pulled his Bronco into the alley behind Morelli's house, coming in from the opposite direction that Cal had gone in. I pulled in and parked a couple of houses down from the cop's house on the other side, and Ranger brought his Cayenne to a stop past me and several houses away. Tank and Zero pulled their SUV's up on opposite ends of Slater Street and parked, blocking all traffic coming and going. As near as we could figure, this would be the best way to corner the guy in without giving him a getaway route. Now we waited.

We weren't in place more than a few minutes before Frank pulled up behind Zero in his taxi, and with him were a couple of guys I vaguely recall seeing around town in the past. Something told me that they were of the same caliber as Mr. Plum, and that we were lucky they were on our side. Hell, I'd take all the help we could get, and I know Ranger felt the same way. We were way past due for something good to finally happen in this whole clusterfuck!

We got out of our vehicles and gathered behind Ranger's Cayenne, where Frank immediately embraced Steph before he quietly introduced his friends 'Sal' and 'Ray'. He didn't elaborate on their 'friendship', and we didn't ask. He proceeded to tell us that, according to his mother-in-law, Morelli had been calling the house and speaking with his wife regularly, hoping to get a line on where her daughter was 'being held'. I had to smirk at that comment; the idiot cop was definitely living in a dream world, and I was looking forward to help making this his worst nightmare. I think we all were, but no more so than Steph. She was impatient to confront the jerk and it showed. She was vibrating with suppressed rage, and it appeared she was trying desperately to hold herself together per Ranger's orders. I wondered how long that was going to last. Bomber had the patience of a gnat, so I wasn't all that confident that she would be able to keep her promise to my cousin. Her struggle to do so was written on her face plain as day; I'd be lying if I said I was the only one who noticed though.

It wasn't long before Eddie Gazarra finally coasted to a stop up the street behind Tank's Hummer, driving an unmarked police car that looked suspiciously like one of Dougie the Dealer's better deals. Apparently he had more Intel to offer than what Frank had given us, and proceeded to clue us in on what we could expect from the rest of the TPD once we'd taken Morelli into custody. The bastard had a lot of loyal friends on the force and we would be, for all intents and purposes, walking into a full scale war with the men in blue. The news wasn't all that encouraging, although he didn't show any signs of unease at the prospect of a confrontation with these men he'd known and worked alongside with for years. I was rather impressed by his determination, as a matter of fact, and it made me wonder if perhaps he wasn't just related to Steph by marriage. The guy had balls.

We all did a last minute check on our equipment, then proceeded to separate into groups of three; Cal and Brett's groups had been briefed on the radio and were waiting for us to start the takedown. We kept the same teams we'd rode in with, saving any confusion as to what our roles were when it came time to move in.

I saw Ranger and Steph move into position on the cop's front porch on either side of the door as Marcus took the lead as door knocker. Binkie and I worked our way towards the side of the house where windows to the kitchen and living room were, Hector backing us, and Tank took his team to the other side of the house, Erik watching his and Slick's backs. I knew Gazarra, along with Frank and his cronies would be covering the back door just in case Morelli tried to rabbit, but I had a sneaking suspicion most of the action would be confined to the living room of the detective's house where Bomber and my cousin would be. It would be his first confrontation with Steph since the car bombing, and he'd been showing signs of tunnel vision the past couple of days in that he was willing to do just about anything to find out where she was hiding, up to and including following her family. Good thing her father was on our side!

At exactly seventeen minutes past the hour, Marcus knocked on the door, looking for all the world like a lost businessman desperate for directions. We all tensed up and held our breath as we waited for Morelli to open the door; our hopes were that he wouldn't see the resemblance in Marcus to Ranger and allow him inside to 'use his phone'.

We heard the sound of the door opening and got ready to move. Showtime!

tbc