Greg sat in the car next to Danny. He was propping the lens of his camera in his knee. He was taking pictures of the men doing a handoff.
"Have they done it yet?" Danny asked. Greg didn't look away, capturing the package getting handed over.
"They just did." Greg put the camera in the back of the car.
"That's our guy."
"We got company" A car came around the corner.
"It looks like one of ours." Greg said as the car pulled up next to them. They both rolled their windows down.
"Got a second for me, detectives." The man said. Danny gowned.
"Tommy, what are you doing here." Greg glanced back over at the men. They hadn't noticed the commotion they were making yet.
"That what I need to talk to you about." Tommy pulled away without another word.
"Great, what did we step in this time." Danny put the car in drive to follow him.
"I don't know, but whatever it was just cost us the last 4 hours we spent sitting in this hot car waiting for those two fools to make the handoff." They only went a few blocks before parking the car and walking over to the detective.
"You look terrible. You getting any sleep." Danny asked Tommy. He smiled, putting his hands on his hips.
"That's what I get for having a kid at my age." Danny turned to Greg.
"Greg, this is Detective Tommy Peirce." Greg nodded his head. "Tommy, this is Detective CSI level 3 Greg Sanders and my brother-in-law." Greg shifted his weight so he could tuck his cane under his arm and shake Tommy's hand.
"So Erin remarried well for her," Tommy asked Danny. Greg shook his head.
"No, I married Alison." Tommy's eyebrows shot up.
"Wow, good for you." Greg shot Danny a look.
"Tommy works in the organized crime task force." Greg tilted his head.
"Which doesn't explain why we're letting our suspects flee."
"Your suspect just did business with lions head the drug cartel." Danny shook his head.
"That explains why the task force is interested in our suspect."
"We've been building a case for months," Tommy said.
"And you don't want us to scare him away," Greg said, pointing over his shoulder in the direction they had been waiting.
"We promise that when we bring it in, we'll get you everything you need." Danny smiled, looking over at Greg.
"Hum, we only have one question."
"Shoot," Tommy said.
"Do you need two more bodies for the takedown?" Tommy looked down at Greg's leg.
"As long as you're both clear." Greg crossed his arms.
"That won't be a problem."
Alison and Stella pulled up to the shop. It was the scene of a robbery turn hostage turn 10-13.
"Jamie cot this case." Stella asked as they got out of the car. Alison looked at the street signs as she grabbed her bag.
"It's in the right area, and he is working so probably." Stella stopped looking at her.
"You seem very calm for someone whose brother might have been involved in a shooting." Alison pulled out her phone, waving it.
"All Reagans and Sanders checked in." Stella ducked under the police tape.
"You guys have an app."
"Henry uses to call, but then everyone else would have to wait. So I made one. It doesn't send out notification while someone is working, but everyone mark that they are alright." Alison opened the door, and the light conversation vanished as they took in the scene. There were several broken windows and one blood pool. "How do you want to run this." Stella being the assistant head of the lab, crossed her arms.
"I think that we both should take pictures then process. We will start inside and work out but take some establishing ones outside first." Alison pulled out her camera. Glancing at the officers standing around them. Stella gave her a knowing nod. This was the 2-9. Jamie was doing his best to pull the house around, but it was an uphill battle. So they would do their best to keep this case as clean as possible.
Greg followed Danny and Tommy down the hallway of the office where Tommy worked.
"We've identified a sit-down that will put all the Lions Head's bosses in the same place," Tommy explained as they walked.
"One-stop shopping." Danny called back.
"Then you guys can charge them under the RICO Act," Greg said.
"With conspiracy." Tommy glanced back at Greg, noting that he had left his cane in the car and kept pace with them.
"Exactly. We do this right, well cripple their operation. The team leader will break down the details." Then, finally, they reached the area where the plan was going to be explained.
"Save me a seat." Greg nodded. Walking over, he waved at the few officers that he recognized. Before he could take a seat, his phone went off. Stepping back, he answered it.
"Sanders."
"Greg, it's Mac." Greg walked further down the hallway.
"Hey, Mac, what's up."
"I got the request for you this week. I just wanted to let you know that I'll be picking your cases up."
"Thanks, Mac. This week took an unexpected turn. Is there anything that you need from me?"
"No, if I have any issues, then I'll give you a call." Greg hung the phone up, walking back and getting in the seat next to Danny.
"You alright," Danny asked. Greg furrowed his brow until Danny point at his hand that was rubbing his knee. He quickly pulled his hand away.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
Alison marked the last set of evidence and placed it in the car. She straightened, twisting and cracking her stiff back. Rubbing her side, doing her best to ease the mussels around her scars.
"How are you doing." Stella asked, shutting the trunk of the SUV. Alison straightened, grabbing her bag.
"I'm fine." Stella grabbed the keys.
"I'll drive." Alison opened her mouth to protest, but Stella waved it off.
"How long do you think that it will take to get through all that evidence." She asked as she got into the passenger's seat. Stella looked over her shoulder into the back.
"Maybe three days." Alison leaned back in the seat, closing her eyes as they pulled away.
"Have you talked to your shrink lately?" Alison cracked her eye open.
"Once a week, why do you ask."
"You seem more tired the past few weeks. Ever since those blackouts." Alison shut her eye again.
"I was triggered by the scent of a flower when the lights went out." Alison could feel Stella looking at her.
"That hasn't happened before, has it."
"No, Greg, and I think that it has something to with the light being out or something. Greg bought roses instead of daisies. I don't know." Stella was quiet, and Alison eventually opened her eyes, looking over at her. Stella was staring out at the road. Her thumb tapping on the wheel as she drove. Her lips pressed tightly together. Alison's heart rate started to pick up.
"What." Stella consciously relaxed her face smiling.
"Oh, nothing. I was just thinking about something."
"What."
"Nothing; let's get back to the lab and get this case sorted out."
Greg gripped his gun as he waited for the signal to go. They were waiting for the last set of men to arrive. Danny looked over at him, and Greg gave him a nod. He was fine.
"That's the last of them." Tommy said over the phone. "All Units, on my mark. Three…Two…One…Mark." A flashbang went off. Greg ducked behind a half wall as the gunfire started. The strike team went in while Danny and Greg gave support. They easily outnumbered the men, but they had the better position and plenty of firepowers. Danny was in the middle of reloading his gun when one of the men charged him. Greg quickly took him down. In an instance, the deafening sound of gunfire was gone.
"Clear," Danny called out.
"All Clear." Confirmation was given. Right then, a side door opened.
"Take cover," Greg called out as the barrel of a gun appeared. It was too late. The officer dropped as the gunfire continued. Greg grabbed Danny shoving him back against the wall out of the line of fire. They looked over at Tom, who was on the other side of the opening.
"Take the shot." Danny called out to him. "You're clear." Tom looked at them but didn't move. Danny took a deep breath pushing out from behind the wall. Danny let out 3 shots taking him down as the man shot back one last time. Danny slammed against the wall grabbing his shoulder. Greg ran over to him.
"Officer down." It was heard over the radio. Greg slowly lifted Danny's arm, looking at the wound.
"What do you think." Danny asked.
"You'll live." He glanced in the direction of Tom. "No thanks to him." Danny shoved Greg back, marching over to him.
"Hey, what happened back there." Tommy looked at his arm.
"Is your arm okay?" Danny glanced down at it.
"Yeah, don't worry about my arm. Why didn't you take the shot and take out the shooter?"
"I couldn't be sure there weren't Task Force members behind him." Greg stepped up his face.
"There was a task Force member about to get taken out." Tommy held up his hands.
"It was a complicated situation."
"How." Greg glared at him.
"I would've been shooting blind. The cop still had his gun. He could've taken the guy out himself."
"While he was bleeding out. Yeah, that sounds like a great idea." Tommy shoved Greg back, looking at Danny.
"Look, I'm sorry you got hurt. I really am, but this operation was a success. I stand behind my actions." Tommy turned and walked away.
"What do you think." Greg asked, crossing his arms.
"Look, I know Tommy. If he stands by his call, it's good enough for me."
"Sounds more like an excuse than an explanation."
Alison stood in the lab looking over some of the evidence photos when Stella walked into the room.
"Hey, Eddie was wondering if she could come up and talk to you." Alison looked over at the phone next to her, holding her hands up.
"I promise I didn't put it on mute." Stella looked at the phone for a minute then laughed.
"Oh no, I found her standing out front. I think she was debating if she was able to come to see you. She's in your office." Alison looked down at the photos. "I can handle this while you're with her." Alison nodded, backing away.
"It should be straight forward all the evidence is matching the officer's reports and the security cameras on the scene. I just need to make a few more notes and then send it over to the DA's office." Stella nodded.
"I'll get started on that then." Alison took her lab coat off and walked down the hallway heading into her office. Eddie was looking at one of the pictures on her desk.
"What's up." Eddie jumped at the sound of her voice and quickly set the picture down, knocking one of Alison's baseballs over.
"I'm sorry," Eddie said, scrambling to pick up everything that was knocked over. Alison walked over, placing her hand onto Eddie's.
"It's fine." Alison smiled at her. "What's up." Eddie relaxed, looking around them.
"I don't know who to talk to about something." Alison leaned against her desk crossing her arms.
"Depends on what it's about."
"Jamie." The smile that had been on Alison's face vanished.
"Oh, in that case, probably Dad." Eddie shifted.
"That's the thing. I don't want to talk to him."
"If it's because you're nervous because he's your soon-to-be father-in-law, you're just going to have to get over it." Eddie shook her head.
"No, it's because he's a commissioner, and I don't want him to feel like he has to make an official move." Alison nodded her head.
"Ah, I see. Does this have to do with a 10-13 that happened this week?" Eddie nodded.
"I think he's nervous about making the hard calls."
"He knows that he made a good call and that the officer lived right."
"Yeah, but it's almost like he's gun shy in the sense that he's not willing to send his men into a situation that could get them hurt." Alison picked up the baseball on her desk.
"So, what's he doing." Eddie looked down at her feet.
"Going in by himself.' Alison froze in the middle of tossing the ball up in the air. It landed on the floor with a thud.
"Oh, that why you don't want to talk to Dad because he might have to…." Eddie nodded. Alison bent over, grabbing the ball, wincing slightly. "In a situation like this. I would say talk to Grandpa. He should be able to help, and you don't have to worry about him doing anything official." Eddie smiled, heading for the door.
"However," Eddie stopped. "If this continues, then you have to go through official channels." Eddie took a deep breath.
"Okay, thanks, Al."
"Anytime."
Greg handed Alison the salt. The dinner was a little tense as the DA, and the Commissioner's office was in the middle of butting heads. Several officers didn't show up to their court appearances. Mac made it clear that the lab would stay out of this situation. So, everyone was doing double time.
"Hey, can we talk about my wedding," Eddie asked? Jamie looked over at her.
"My wedding? You marrying yourself?" Erin laughed.
"It's just the way women phrase it, Jamie."
"I'm pretty sure you told us we're not allowed to talk about your wedding," Danny said through a mouth full of food. Eddie smiled.
"You're okay to talk about it if I bring it up." Nicky grabbed the basket of rolls.
"I prefer a destination wedding on a beach somewhere." Frank looked over at her.
"You do have some idea what a cop makes, right?"
"It's tradition for the father of the bride to pay for the wedding." Greg's eyes snapped up at Nicky's comment looking at Jamie. Eddie's dad was currently serving time in prison, and she hadn't talked to him in recent years. Frank raised his eyebrows at Nicky, and her face paled, looking over at Eddie.
"I'm so sorry." Eddie waved her hands.
"Hey, it okay." Frank smiled, turning to her.
"Okay, how can we help." Eddie set her fork down.
"Are there any family traditions that I should…we should think about?"
"Well, church," Erin said.
"Any particular one?"
"I'm guessing Roman Catholic?" Sean said.
"I know, I mean, what…uh, the… wh-where did you get married." Erin smiled.
"Oh um, Point O Woods on the fire island. Jacks' family had spent summers there for generations." Henry shook his head.
"Episcopals. We had to ship in a priest for the day. Literally, bring him over by boat." Erin leaned forward, looking at him.
"All right, you need to get over it, Pop." Jamie looked at Frank.
"Where was yours again, Dad?"
"Holy Trinity in Bensonhurst."
"Yeah, I remember all the stained glass and that marble." Frank nodded.
"Yeah, but now there's a Home Depot there now." Greg reached over, rubbing Alison's shoulder.
"Ally and I were the last people to be married there before it was taken down." He smiled.
"Not for nothing but mine and Linda's place does fit all the criteria," Danny chimed in. "And it's on Staten Island, which is kind of a destination." Nicky laughed.
"That's not what I meant." Danny held up his hands.
"What's its Staten Island. It has beaches." Jamie shook his head.
"Yeah, but the name." Eddie looked up at that.
"What."
"Our lady of Perpetual Sorrows, right." Danny took a bit of his food.
"Okay, the name stinks, but the ambiance is wonderful."
"Well, why not St. Angelus?" Henry asked. "I got married there. We go to church there every Sunday. It's about as strong a family tradition as you could ask for." Frank looked over at Eddie.
"That'd be nice. But, of course, it's totally up to you two." Eddie and Jamie both gave the nod agreeing.
"Great, done, now about the honeymoon," Erin said.
"What did you do," Eddie asked.
"Oh, well, we rented the cutest cottage on Cisco Beach in Nantucket. We had a blast." Danny nodded, pointing at Jamie.
"Yeah, and remember those lobster rolls? We went to that lobster roll place six days in a row. It was so delicious." Jamie nodded.
"Yeah, Pop, we rented those bikes. You could ride around that whole island in three hours."
"Remember the blues were running early that year?" Frank asked. Eddie held up her hands.
"Wait, you all went on Erin's honeymoon." They all agreed. Eddie laughed. Okay, I get it. You all had me for like a second." They all stopped looking at her.
"What?" Erin said, the smile vanishing. Eddie paused.
"What do you mean "What"?"
"Never minds," Frank said, looking down at his plat.
"To be fair, you did tell us about our family traditions," Henry said. They all slowly started to laugh.
"Not again, you guys." Eddie said as they all laughed at the joke. She looked at Greg. "You didn't fall for that, did you." Greg and Alison stiffened slightly.
"Uh…" He stammered.
"We didn't go on a honeymoon," Alison said. The smile that had filled the table once again vanished.
"Oh." Eddie looked down at her plate. "I just thought." Greg cleared his throat.
"We decide that it would be easiest for Alison if we just took two weeks off work and stayed here." He smiled at her. "It was my first chance to actuality tour the city." Alison gave a small smile.
"That way, I could get used to…living with someone." Greg leaned over, kissing her.
"I wouldn't have it any other way." Alison took in a slightly shaky breath.
"Anyways, have you thought about a wedding color."
Alison stood in the kitchen, the water running in front of her.
"I haven't seen you do that in a long time," Frank said, walking over to her. He leaned against the counter next to her, not touching her. She didn't let her eyes leave the water the noise that she thought was gone filling her head. "Do you want me to go get Greg?" Alison reached up a shaking handing to whip tears away.
"No, he's with Ethen." Frank nodded.
"I can talk to Jamie, maybe have him sit down with Eddie. It's clear that he needs to tell her a little more about what happened." He pressed his lips together.
"Maybe we should think about letting her see the file." The lump in her thought was too larger for her to speak. She turned the water up even high as she tried to drown out the sound.
"I thought that I was over this." She finally said.
"I know."
"Did you know why we took two weeks off for our honeymoon?" Frank didn't say anything. "It was because I kept waking up screaming. Greg was sleeping on the couch, but I could still tell that something was different." Alison shook her head. "That morning, he took me. I had the best night's sleep. That monster was lying in bed inches from me, and I slept like a rock. Yet the man I love and married. Couldn't sleep on the couch because my mind saw him as a threat. I don't get it." Frank let out a deep breath.
"I'm sorry." Alison shut the water off, looking at him.
"Why there's nothing you can do."
Greg held Ethan walking down the stairs smiling at Danny and Sean as they got ready to leave.
"Have you heard from IA? I was supposed to have a meeting with them about the bust this week, but they haven't called me." Danny glanced at Sean.
"Yeah, the guy admitted that he was in the wrong turned in his shield. So, the case was closed." Danny said, being careful not to mention Tommy's name since Sean know who he was.
"Well, I'm sorry to hear that. Let me know if you need anything this week."
"Baez gets back this week, so I should be good." Danny glanced in the direction of the kitchen.
"Let me know if you guys need anything." Greg glanced down at Ethan.
"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind."