After Kevin took off, it was like someone had sucked all the air out of the room since tension was running high. We all wanted to get these guns off the street. Sometimes that meant losing our heads for a little while, then getting them back on straight so we could nail the people responsible for creating and selling weapons of mass destruction.

Adam disappeared down the hall to catch up. The plan was for him to park down the street, but not to attract attention to himself, or Kevin who was undercover while he went to check up on Shabazz. The radio buzzed to life a half-hour later, but it wasn't good news.

"5021 Ida, emergency. Shots fired at 1249 South Fillmore, plain-clothes officers on the scene." Adam's voice was urgent as Kim and I exchanged looks. She immediately got up and walked over to Voight's office.

"Sarge? Shots fired at Kevin and Adam's location." I heard the click of the mouse, the rolling of his chair and he was following her out the door.

"How long ago?"

"About a minute," Kim called over her shoulder as she made a beeline for her coat draped across the arm of her chair as Adam fed more information to the dispatcher.

"5021 Ida, we got a male, black, six feet, black jacket, fleeing in a black SUV. Can't get plates. Headed westbound down 46th. Requesting backup at location."

"You two head to the scene, help Adam and Kevin find out who is behind this shooting. We need to know who we're dealing with before we move forward with the meeting between Malik and Wes. Try to keep things as quiet as you can. We don't want the news reaching Malik's ears until after the meeting if possible."

"Copy that."

"5021 Henry and Eddiie, responding. ETA, five minutes." I stated into my radio as I swiped it off my desk and followed her down the stairs and out the building of the door. The main floor was clear, besides a few officers moseying around which allowed us to get out of the building pretty quickly.

"You want to drive?" Kim unlocked the black SUV and tossed me the key as we walked through the parking lot. Hopping into the driver's seat, my phone buzzed in my pocket just as I closed the door. "Everything okay?

"Eva is still adjusting to being here, so I'm guessing it's her calling. That or it's the secretary telling me she's trying to get a hold of me, or there's a problem at school." Stuffing my phone back into my pocket, I let the call go to voicemail and twisted the key in the ignition.

"Here's hoping it's the first option." Kim grew quiet as she turned to look out the window. I could tell she didn't know what to say, how everything she did was way out of her comfort zone. There was a reason why none of us in Intelligence were married or had kids, up until now. It was a demanding job requiring unrelenting focus. I hated to think of Eva as a distraction. I had told her to call if she ever needed to talk to me, although I was starting to feel pulled in more than one direction.

Pulling up to the building, the car fell to a subtle hum before silencing as I handed her back the keys. We tried not to draw attention as we walked up to the house. If many people in this neighborhood knew Shabazz, it was only fair to assume some of them knew Malik and would spill the news. We had to do our best to not let that happen.

"Hey, what happened?" I asked as Kim and I approached Adam rifling through the top drawer of an oak desk sitting against the wall across from the couch.

"Kevin was calling Shabazz when he arrived at the house and heard gunshots go off. I called it in while we moved towards the house. By the time Kevin kicked in the door, the offender fled out the back door into a waiting black SUV at the back of the house. He drove off before I could get a good look at him."

"Kevin out back?" Kim asked, a dark shadow moving past the blinds of the back window. It was clear just by that how the offender knew Shabazz was home. Those blinds did little for his privacy.

"He's working on getting tire prints," Adam informed her, pushing his chin towards the back of the house as he pulled out a few folded-up papers from the top drawer.

"I'll go see if he needs help with anything." With long strides, her greeting exchange with Kevin was cut off as she closed the door behind her.

"Voight wants to keep Shabazz's death quiet long enough to make the deal with Malik," I stated, giving Shabazz a side glance. He was now covered with a white sheet until he could be taken safely to the morgue.

"The coroner will be here soon to take the body. We're just waiting for Kevin to get the tire prints and he'll come around back. Figured there will be less speculation from the neighbors that way. If they were already close in proximity to hear what went on between him and the offender, we need to find a way to talk to them without tipping off Malik so we can make the deal and get those guns off the street."

"Did Shabazz say who did it?"

"He said Wes shot him because he couldn't kill Malik, which although I know they've both had their fair share of wrongdoings, it was a shame he had to give his life for his brother's. If Malik hadn't opened his mouth with Wes, we wouldn't be standing here right now."

"I think if half the people didn't do what they do, we wouldn't have jobs."

"Fair point. These bank statements don't tell us anything we don't know about him being paid for his part in all this." He held up the folded-up paper he had produced a few minutes earlier. "All the other papers in there are blank."