Luca and Deac had kept them informed, and after a quick phone call, Chris and Street were taking over for the night. Street is parking the charger a little way down the road from the crooked attorney's house. The assignment had been to be ready for anything aside from a gala dinner tonight. And therefore Street had opted for a comfortable Henley shirt under his leather jacket instead of standard plaid, and it looked okay too. He'd felt too weird putting on a dress shirt to sit in a car all night with Chris. Chris was wearing tight black pants and a comfy hoodie giving him the perfect question.
"So, what do we do if Baker heads out to a restaurant?" he nods at her attire, and Chris visibly rolls her eyes.
"I planned ahead. Just didn't feel like freezing my ass off sitting around," she doesn't say much more but pulls out her phone to scroll through something.
"What are you reading?" Street continues to try and make conversation.
"Just reading the case files again, trying to get a better feel for the guy. You take first watch," Chris answers without lifting her eyes, and Street sighs. He had hoped to stay busy and maybe even tell Chris what he saw. Ask for her advice, but apparently, she had other plans.
About an hour later, the porch light comes on, and Baker steps out of the house. "Here we go," he taps Chris's arm, and she sits up a bit straighter.
"Looks like date night," she nods, "but nothing too, too fancy. I mean dress shirt without a jacket…" she trails off while they wait for Baker to pull out of his drive, "We should be good to follow him in wherever he decides to go."
After about another 30 minutes of driving, their target finally pulls into a parking spot, but due to traffic and limited spaces, Street can't just simply pull over too. Therefore the two of them split up. Chris hops out of the car and pulls off her hoodie to reveal a lace-detail top. She pops in her headphones and motions for Street to dial her if necessary.
He isn't exactly happy with that plan, but it had to do for now. He doubles back and finds a spot relatively close. Street dials Chris to figure out where he is heading.
"Hey," Chris answers with a fake cheery voice he isn't used to, "I just walked into the 'Lily.' I'll wait at the bar,"
"Got it. Meet you in five," he wasn't all that far away from the restaurant Chris had mentioned. It definitely wasn't what he had expected, though.
Minutes later, he slides into a stool next to Chris, and he follows her eyes. "Baker is still alone?" Street frowns, confused and Chris shakes her head no.
"She just went to the bathrooms. My guess is hooker, anyway. She was already at the table when he came in. I'll go check what she is up to. You go grab us a table with a view," Chris shoots him a pointed look before rolling her eyes and sliding off her stool.
Street follows her with his eyes, and just when Chris reaches Baker's table, he picks up a call and, after a few words hastily pulls out his wallet and throws a few bills on the table. Street catches Chris's glance and nods. He tries to be as inconspicuous as possible, following the slightly jumpy man outside.
Baker is still on his phone and talking rather loudly. "How did that happen? Why wasn't I notified?"
Sounds like something at work went wrong. Street thinks to himself and slows his pace a bit more to not catch up to the man. He anticipates Baker starting to pace outside the restaurant and pulling out his phone to have a pretend conversation too, but their target heads further. Straight for his car.
Dammit. Street curses to himself and now dials Chris for real.
"I am coming out now," Chris just curtly speaks into the line, and then Street again hears the dial tone. By the time Chris had caught up with Street, Baker regrettably had sped off.
Now they'd have to wait for someone to find his plates on camera and redirect them.
"What happened?" Chris asks, and Street fills her in on the conversation he partly overheard. "So he might be on his way to solve something with work or do something else nefarious? Great," Chris snarks.
"How did your end go? She a hooker or what?" Street turns the conversation while they head for their car. "She disappeared. There is a back exit next to the bathrooms. So, whoever she was, we will have to run her face through the system.
They ride in confused silence back to Baker's address. It's the one place he will have to show up eventually, and sure enough, he really is there when they pull up.
"Okay, not what I expected," Chris suddenly mumbles after opening a text.
"News you care to share?" Street raises his brows and tries to decipher the expression.
"That woman Baker was with… she's not exactly a hooker, but a Madame. Suspected of aiding human traffickers by hiding the girls in her establishments," Chris's voice is laced with contempt. "And to top it all off, after the first call Baker got, which was from a burner, he called a lawyer, and we can't even know who because the name is protected by reason of the case." Chris huffs.
They both know if a lawyer gets assigned a special phone just for one case, it usually pertains to keeping witnesses safe. And it makes Street's stomach turn to think that Baker had the power and connections to maybe jeopardize some trial here.
"Can we get a list of ongoing or open cases that would warrant such a measure?" he muses, and Chris nods. "We can try."
In the early morning hours, they finally get relieved of their observation duties by another team and head home for some sleep.
And come back with fresh eyes, to hopefully connect all the dots.
I know it's been a while... so thank you for sticking around. I am slowly but surely building this out and having fun.
