Raquel Gonzalez met Halstead and Lindsay when they entered Bayley Martinez's house. She was all business, as most often seemed to be the case.
"We have a couple of guys out of town on business. That means you're needed on security for a delivery that is being made today. This is increased trust and responsibility you're being given. You had better prove you're worth it."
"Glad to be chosen. What do we need to do? Do we need to report to Ms Martinez? It was her who called me," Halstead said.
"She's not here. What you're going to do is ride with me in a car, do what I tell you, keep your mouths shut. That includes you," Gonzalez said, giving Lindsay a hard look.
"Mouth shut, got it," Lindsay said. "I assume more responsibility brings more money?"
"Yes, you'll be paid more money," Gonzalez sighed. "Now stay here, we'll be leaving shortly."
Even 'Sophia' knew to keep her mouth in check and avoid asking what the delivery was. She and Halstead stood near the front door for a couple of minutes while Gonzalez disappeared upstairs. When she came back down, there was a male member of the security team with her, and she was carrying two pistols in addition to the evident one on her hip.
"Two rules," they were told as the guns were handed over. "You don't fire at anyone unless we're under attack or I tell you to. There's no reason to expect it will be necessary. Second rule: if either of you point these guns at me or Ms Martinez, I'll kill you. Got it?"
"Clear as a bell," Halstead said. He checked the gun's clip to make sure the bullets were real, and made sure the gun was safe, as did Lindsay.
"You know what you're doing," Gonzalez commented without emotion.
"Would we be here if we didn't?" Lindsay said. It was a question that didn't need an answer.
"Right, let's go," Gonzalez said. "Juan, you drive. Jesse, Sophia, you're riding in the back."
On the way to the car, Halstead caught a look from Lindsay that said, 'So far so good.' He agreed. She had already made the decision not to notify Olinsky or to take any action during today's job. It would have been easy to go ahead and order a raid, but no, patience was the order of the day, while continuing to build all important trust with Martinez, and avoiding what could be a potential trap to try and get them to out themselves as cops and blow the operation.
The four of them got into the car, and Juan started driving without asking directions, or even what their destination was. Apparently he already knew it.
Halstead sat in the back, keeping his body language cool and his mouth closed. Lindsay had made the decision on how she wanted to handle this job, so he would go along with it. They were going to carry out their security duties and nothing more. There would not even be a hint of anything to arouse suspicion from Martinez. Not that he knew where she was. His best guess was that they would meet her at the destination.
Five minutes later, the best guess changed. The car had driven into an industrial district, with not much traffic around and a fair few empty buildings. A black van emerged from an intersection just ahead of them and turned to travel in the same direction that they were heading in. Juan got the car up close behind it to follow it. It became obvious that Martinez and whatever cargo they were delivering were in the van.
The rest of the journey took nearly ten minutes, with the destination being in another industrial district that was half full of abandoned warehouses. One of the derelict ones had its roller shutter door open. The van drove right in, and Juan followed, parking up beside it.
There was another van already parked inside, near some old oil drums. Several Hispanic men stood around waiting – likely the buyers for whatever Martinez was selling.
"Juan, with me. You two stay by the car and be ready to move if things go wrong," Gonzalez said, turning to look back at them momentarily.
"Understood," Halstead said. It was a disappointment. They wouldn't be close enough to see much as the deal went down. But for obvious reasons they couldn't object to their assignment.
Getting out of the car, he saw that Martinez and several men, Rodrigo among them, had gotten out of the van. For now, nothing was retrieved from the back of it.
Martinez and one of the men from the other party began conversing in Spanish. It all seemed friendly enough. Business had been done between them before, it appeared.
Halstead had very little Spanish, but it wasn't hard to figure out when a joke was made about the two white people over by the car. It also wasn't hard to figure out when the man said something like, "Here's the money."
One of the other men produced a large holdall from their van and put it on an oil drum. He opened it, and Rodrigo looked inside. From where he was standing, Halstead couldn't see into it. Rodrigo nodded to Martinez, who in turn nodded to two of her man by her van.
Those two men each removed a metal crate from the van and carried them over to the oil drums, where they were set down for inspection by the purchaser.
The two crates were opened, and the purchaser looked inside. Again, Halstead couldn't see what was inside. Whatever it was appeared to meet with approval, and the purchaser shook hands with Martinez.
Business concluded, both parties hastened back to their vans to leave. Gonzalez had stuck close to Martinez the whole time, and walked her back to her van. Only then did she return to the car. By then, Juan was also there.
"Let's go," Gonzalez said briskly.
Halstead and Lindsay returned to their seats in the back of the car, and it promptly pulled away, following right behind the van with the boss in it. In just a couple of minutes, the job had been done without incident.
"For what it was worth, that was a job well done this morning," Jay said when he and Erin walked back into the safe house that night.
"No. That was a test for sure," she said, taking her coat off. It was dumped over the back of a chair in the living room. "At least I figured it out. If I'd have had Al raid that warehouse, we'd have come away with nothing more than a blown operation and half ass gambling charges."
"I'm not saying you're wrong, but what makes you so sure?" Jay asked as he took off his own coat. He hung it one of the hooks near the front door.
"We got left by the car, where we would have been of little use if a shooting battle kicked off. And it just so happened that from there we couldn't see what was in those boxes, or see any money change hands. No, that was Martinez trying to draw us out, which means she still suspected we might be cops."
"But nothing happened. We stood there, did as we were told, and kept our mouths shut, just like Raquel said."
"Exactly," Erin smiled. "So maybe now Martinez will trust us, and we'll get brought in on a real gun sale. Next time we get a job like that, we hit it with everything we've got."
Jay walked over to her, put his arms around her waist and pulled her to him. "You know what's sexier than a really clever sergeant?"
"No?"
"Nothing," he said before they started passionately kissing each other.
Nearly two weeks had gone by since the arms deal, or the test, if that was what it had been. Either way, Halstead and Lindsay hadn't gotten near another job since. They were both getting thoroughly sick of the undercover mission, and of the safe house.
Halstead missed his own place, missed his own bed, missed his regular job, and missed his normal routine. He also often found himself wondering how Purrazzo was doing. As her mentor and partner, he had a real interest in her development as a member of Intelligence Unit. For nearly two months, she had been entrusted to Adam Ruzek. As much as he liked Ruze as a colleague and a friend, it wasn't the assignment he would have made.
On this particular day, thankfully in warmer weather now that the seasons were changing, Halstead and Lindsay were assigned to patrol around the Martinez house, keeping an eye out for anyone or anything out of place, not that there ever had been. Bayley liked all eventualities covered, which was one reason why she had proven hard to take down.
They were nearing the front door on their rounds when Raquel Gonzalez emerged in a hurry, clearly looking for them.
"Jesse, Sophia. You're wanted. Security for a delivery. Let's move."
"Yes, ma'am," Halstead said. As soon as their superior's back was turned, he shot a glance at Lindsay. She was thinking the same thing as him. This was the one they had been waiting for.
A/N: Halstead and Lindsay think they're in business. How will things unfold if they call in the raid?