The team met in a commuter lot about a quarter mile away from the galleries. Close enough to intervene in case there were any issues, but far enough away to not draw attention and ruin the operation. They also met a few Springfield officers there as backup…and because since they were outside of Chicago, it was no longer their jurisdiction.
"Ok, so we know the plan?" Voight asked, taking command.
"Yes Sarge. Claire and I will pull up and meet Mark Tomlin at Emerald City Galleries at 1. I will pretend to be from V&P Associates. Both of us will be wearing wires so you guys can hear everything that's going on. We'll follow Mark into the galleries with his brother where we will ask specifically to see their most expensive works and jewels." Kevin explained as the pair got wired.
"Specifically the Warhol Birth of Venus and one of Eliza Hamilton's cameo rings." Claire interrupted.
Kevin continued. "As Claire is being shown those pieces, I will also ask about seeing some of their other collections for another potential client."
Adam interrupted, "Wait, so we're just going to leave Claire by herself?"
Kevin eyed him, annoyed. "Will you let me finish?! No, I said I would ask; not run off and go looking for it. I'll have eyes on her the entire time."
Adam calmed down a little. "I'm sorry. It's just this entire situation makes me nervous and I don't like it."
Kim put her hand on Adam's shoulder. "Relax Adam. From the rig I'll be able to know everything that's going on."
Jay handed Kevin a pair of fake reading glasses to wear that had a camera built in. "Between the wires, the earpieces and these it'll be like we're in the room with them."
Voight retook control of the situation. "Alright. Hailey, Burgess, you guys are taking command of the rig. Rojas, Ruzek, you'll be stationed in the alley around back in case they decide to make a break for it. And Halstead I'm going to have you with our Springfield brothers getting them settled into their positions around the perimeter."
"Got it Sarge!" Everyone replied as they went in their respective directions.
Kevin and Claire got out of the car when they saw Mark and his brother walk out the front door of the gallery.
"Mark, thank you so much for squeezing us in on such short notice!" Claire shook both Mark's and his brother's hand. Kevin followed suit.
"No problem." Mark eyed his brother. They both looked a little skeptical of Kevin. "And I'm sorry for asking, but you are?"
"Jordon Ashford sir." Kevin replied, pulling one of the fake business cards Jay had made out of his wallet. "I'm from V&P Associates."
Before Kevin could finish his spiel, Mark's brother interrupted. "I can assure you that all of our works have been authenticated by my staff. We would never buy or sell anything without knowing if it's legitimate."
Claire jumped back into the conversation. "I understand, however the director of our museum would still like to use her own team to authenticate the items. If you have an issue I suggest you take it up with her. I am just here on her behalf because I promised her I would fix the little snafu that happened about a week ago. I'm sure Mark has told you."
Mark's brother nodded. He looked back over at Mark who nodded as well.
"Of course, right this way."
Once inside, the space looked like your typical gallery auction house. There were rooms with paintings on the walls and rooms set up like lecture halls that were used for larger auctions.
"So my brother tells me you are interested in one of our Warhol paintings." Mark's brother spoke as the group walked through the galleries. Kevin hung back a bit to let Claire work her magic. He also wanted to take a look and see if they were dumb enough to hang the painting in plain sight.
"Yes sir. I'm sure you're wondering why we don't just replace the Pollock." Claire asked a rhetorical question. "Being the lovely woman that she is, my director left the decision up to me. And while Jackson Pollock was a great addition to our collection, he was never my favorite artist. I mean come on, it's just paint splatter. I can have my nephew do that!"
"I completely agree!" Mark's brother exclaimed. "I typically only keep his work here because it brings in a lot of money. I have to keep the doors to this place open somehow."
"Is that why none of it is hanging up?" Kevin came back into the conversation.
Mark's brother shook his head and gave a small laugh. "Pretty much. That and I'm not stupid enough to keep my best inventory up for someone to try and take."
Claire heard Jay muttering in her earpiece. "Not stupid, yeah we'll see."
"While I'm here I'd also like to take a look at a certain cameo ring that I know you acquired within the last few months." Claire added. "One owned by Mrs. Eliza Hamilton."
Mark's brother looked a little nervous. He tried to hide it as best he could and get back to business. "You're just full of all kinds of requests aren't you?"
"Mark, did you not explain to your brother that I was looking to replace the jewels as well?"
Both Kevin and Claire could see Mark getting a little nervous too.
Claire got right back to it. "I am so sorry for the miscommunication on our part. Yes we would also like to replace the jewels. And since our director is a huge fan of the musical Hamilton, I figured this would be a nice present for her…if the price is right. Your brother mentioned something about a family discount."
"Of course." Mark's brother replied quickly.
Kevin and Claire continued to walk with the brothers in silence until they got to a large garage type room. It was neatly organized, but still filled to the brim with artwork and sculptures and cases of jewelry.
Kevin eyed Claire to see if anything looked familiar to her. Without anyone noticing, she took a quick glance around. She shook her head no.
"Wow. This is an impressive collection." Kevin said. "How are you guys able to keep track of it all?"
"My staff and I know this room inside and out. We have our own system of organization that most other auction houses don't use. I call it controlled chaos." Mark's brother said, weaving in and out of cases.
Kevin smiled, "Well hey, if it's working that well for you, maybe my guys at V&P should start using it."
He led them to a small open area with a table.
"Wait here." Mark's brother went to start grabbing some artwork. His brother followed.
Kevin and Claire both overheard them whispering. They couldn't make out what was said, but it definitely made them look guilty. Kevin and Claire took the opportunity to take one final glance to see if they saw any of their stuff. After a few moments and almost giving up, Claire glanced up on a shelf and saw the corner of a canvas with splatter paint. She knew from just that corner alone that it was a Jackson Pollock, but was unsure if it was hers. She nudged Kevin to get him to look up as well. When he saw it, he whispered to Kim to see if she could zoom his glasses camera in.
Just as Mark and his brother returned with a few pieces, Kim confirmed in Kevin and Claire's ear that it was their piece.
Outside, Ruzek and Rojas were observing the scene from their car. Adam wished he was in the rig so he could keep an eye on Claire himself, but he had to follow orders. Rojas could sense his stress level rising every minute they were out there.
"Hey." Rojas tried snapping him out of it. "It'll be ok. Claire can handle herself."
"I know. I just wish we didn't have to go down this route. I mean I know it's not my kid, but now that Kim is pregnant I just feel this whole new sense of overprotectiveness and being scared shitless all the time. I guess I let it get the better of me because I blew up on Kim a week or so ago the same way I blew up on Claire. I know they can handle themselves, it just stresses me out thinking about the job we're in and how any number of things could happen, even in the simplest situation. I just don't want either of them putting their career and the need to be badass independent women ahead of the lives of these innocent babies. You know?"
Adam completely unloaded on Rojas. He felt at ease knowing there was a new person in their ranks who could give him and honest and fresh perspective.
"I'm sure neither of them is stupid enough to do that. Just like you're overprotective, so are they. They literally have to change every aspect of their life at the drop of a dime to make sure nothing happens to that little person." Rojas explained. "But for Claire and Kim, as well as thousands of other women, they have to be worried about more than just that kid. Just by being women, they've had to work ten times harder than anyone else to get to where they are in their careers. So when women like them get pregnant, they start stressing about their career ending because nobody wants to deal with a woman on maternity leave. So on top of the ten times harder they're already working, now they have to work a hundred times harder to overcompensate and prove having a kid won't make them a detriment to the job."
Ruzek sat and absorbed everything Rojas said. She wasn't wrong. He saw first-hand how hard Kim had to fight just to get into Intelligence, and that was her first concern when she found out she was pregnant. Though he didn't know much about Claire and her career as a curator, he imagined she went through the same thing.
The two sat in silence for another few minutes, taking in the rest of their surroundings. It wasn't long before Rojas noticed something. She walkied to Voight.
"Hey boss, the lock on this back door looks busted. We've got officers behind us for cover; want Ruzek and me to go check it out? Something tells me they've got more than art back there."
Once Voight gave the all clear, the two left their car and quietly snuck into the back of the building. What they saw didn't surprise them much, but they knew it was going to make the situation a lot more dangerous. Adam decided it was time to warn the rest of the team, including Kevin and Claire.
"Hey guys, heads up, we've got product. Looks to be about 10 kilos." Adam said into the earpiece.
"We've got another 6 over here." Rojas added. "And a few more handguns."
Kevin and Claire eyed each other and nodded, acknowledging what they just heard. They were thinking the same thing as Adam…this just got a lot more dangerous than they expected.
Mark and his brother returned, each with a Warhol in hand. They placed them on the table. "Are either of these what you had in mind?"
Claire pointed to the Birth of Venus, "That's the one. Jordon, do you mind authenticating it while I make this call to my director? And then if it's legit we can talk about that cameo ring."
Kevin nodded. "Certainly. Gentlemen, may I?"
Claire took a few steps back and pretended to call her boss while looking at some of the other art. Kevin took a pair of white gloves out of his pocket, put them on, and picked up the painting. He pretended to inspect it, asking the two men questions about the work. He put the piece back on the table.
"This is the real deal. Once we get confirmation from Claire we'll be able to finish this transaction. In the meantime…" Kevin leaned more on the table, trying to make it seem like he didn't want Claire knowing what he was saying. "Miss Anderson might not be in the market for a Pollock, but I am. I have a client who is willing to pay top dollar, but he is very specific in the piece that he wants."
"Mr. Ashford, as I said before I keep very few Pollock's here." Mark's brother explained. Kevin could see him trying to keep his nerves from showing. He had him exactly where he wanted him.
Kevin leaned a little closer. "Yeah, but you see…my client heard through the grapevine that this particular piece had recently become available and that it's in your collection. Like I said this man is very persistent and will do anything, and I mean anything, to get it."
"Could you be more specific?" Mark's brother asked. By now Mark was trying to get away from the situation by taking the other Warhol and putting it back.
Kevin pulled out his phone and showed Mark's brother the picture Kim had sent him of Claire's missing Pollock. As Mark's brother looked down at the phone, a bead of sweat dripped down his face. Kevin looked down to watch him, but also so the crew in the rig could see what was going.
Kim zoomed the camera in a little and watched as Mark's brother brought his hand down to his side and inconspicuously pull back his blazer a little. She yelled frantically into the earpiece when her eye caught what he was going for. "GUN!"
Without a second thought, Kevin dropped the phone and pulled out his own weapon. Both men got distracted away from each other as shots rang out from almost every direction. Kevin tried to get to Claire to protect her but he couldn't find her anywhere. He felt a bullet zoom by his head and had no choice but to fire back, not knowing who he was actually shooting at. The men weaved in and out of artwork to avoid being shot while still taking down their opponent. Glass from the cases shattered as bullets pierced them. Kevin got one good shot into Mark's brother's shoulder, the force of the impact making the brother lose his own gun on the floor.
Rojas and Ruzek were still in the back room and came in to help as soon as they heard the first shot. Rojas had subdued one of the other staff members with one good shot to the leg. While Rojas was worried about taking down the bad guys, Ruzek only had one thing on his mind.
"CLAIRE!" He ran through the collections space, trying to avoid the broken glass and the busted sculptures.
The closer he got to her last known location, he saw Mark's brother lying helplessly on the floor. However, upon closer inspection he didn't have a gunshot wound. Instead, Adam noticed a pair of thin wires attached to his leg. He followed the wires to behind the pedestal of a case, the glass blown completely off the top. He breathed out a heavy sigh of relief when he saw who was sitting there.
"Are you ok?" Adam began checking Claire out. Other than some cuts and bruises from the shrapnel, she seemed ok. It was also during this inspection that Adam saw the taser gun sitting next to her. He now looked both panicked and dumbfounded. He'd ask about the taser later, for now Adam just wanted to get Claire out safely.
"Yeah. I think so." Claire looked down at her baby bump and smiled, carefully rubbing it. "You ok in there little man?"
Adam smiled when Claire nodded. Even though he barely knew this girl and it wasn't his kid, he still felt the need to put his hand on her belly, just to see for himself. When the baby kicked against his hand, Adam began to relax for the first time since this plan was created. Kim and Claire were both safe, the perpetrators were being hauled in by the Springfield boys…it was done.
The intelligence crew walked into med with their new assistant in tow.
"Hey, who do we have here?" Will asked, seeing the slightly battered young woman.
"This is Claire Anderson. She just helped us bust a museum heist turned drug distribution ring up in Springfield." Jay explained.
April was a little shocked. "Springfield? That's three hours away! You didn't get checked out up there?"
Claire shook her head and explained. "No, because like I told this lovely group of overprotective people, I'm fine."
"You're not fine." Adam interjected. He looked over at Will and April. "And besides, we didn't trust anyone else with this precious cargo."
Will and April nodded. When it came to intelligence at the twenty-first, they didn't trust people easily, but when they did, those people became family. They took Claire back to get checked out. Kim went with her for support.
As April began to clean her up and bandage some of her small cuts, she couldn't help but laugh a little at the craziness of this situation.
"Museum heist mama. That's not a phrase you hear every day, but it's going to be a great story to tell the kid when it's born."
"Hey, now my son will have two hero parents. What could be better? And besides…I had to get my stuff back somehow!" Claire giggled a little. She smiled and looked up at Kim, taking her hand. "In all seriousness, I never would have done it if I didn't have my other museum heist mama by my side the entire time."
Kim looked back at April and Claire and smiled. This was the first time anyone outside of the twenty-first knew about her impending motherhood, and for the first time, it didn't seem negative and stressful. Seeing Claire in action today proved that she could be pregnant and still be a badass cop. She was officially going to wear her new title with pride, Museum Heist Mama.