Chapter 47: Two More Days

The next day, Chris and Franco spent most of the day at the club with the crew and Chris had no problem being completely normal. But something kept creeping up in the back of her mind that just wouldn't go away. When she'd talked to Alonzo before he'd said that he had dirt on Franco that he wouldn't want getting out. It was why Franco hadn't made a fuss about Alonzo leaving his crew. She had wondered then if the dirt that he had was that Franco was a cop but she was never sure until he admitted it the night before. That meant Franco had to know that Alonzo and Ernesto knew about him otherwise the threat wouldn't work. Now she had to wonder if he would tell them about her. Would he tell them, once they confronted him about giving up his territory and coming into the crew under Alonzo, that she was a cop too? She wasn't dirty like him. They didn't have anything to hold over her; no leverage to force her cooperation with the crew. Getting out of this was going to be difficult and it had to be carefully planned. She was scheduled to check in with Schiller by two o'clock but she wasn't sure she wanted to do it. Bringing in another detective wasn't exactly protocol for locating a missing undercover and it'd been Franco who'd gotten him on board with bringing her in. She knew she couldn't trust Franco so it was questionable whether she could trust Schiller.

"Hey" Franco said getting her attention. He sat down next to her on the couch. "Where you been all day?"

"Right here" she said softly.

"I mean in your head" he clarified.

"Just thinking" she said with a shrug.

"About what?"

"What do you think?" she asked looking over at him. Franco sighed and scratched his head.

"Why are you stuck on that Christina?" he asked as if he genuinely didn't understand. "I mean, what's done is done. There's no going back. There's no fixing it so….why dwell on it?"

"Because I still have my conscience. What happened to yours?" She got up from the couch and went to join Rosita at the table counting money. She needed to do something to keep herself busy otherwise she'd lose her cool. It was almost one o'clock in the afternoon and she had to make a decision about her call to Schiller. If she decided not to call in, she'd have to find a way to get word to Benson not to go to him about coming in for her. If things went the way she hoped, she'd have an extract plan by evening's end and, by Thursday, she'd be back home with her family. With a bit more thought, she decided to skip her check in with Schiller. It was now or never to slip away and get in contact with SVU. Just as she was about to announce herself going out for food, Franco stood up and said they had a job and to start packing up. They loaded product in one bag and money in another. Ernesto handed each of them a gun, which Chris reluctantly took and tucked in the back of her waistband then covered with her shirt. They loaded the bags and piled into the truck to go on their way. She thought about sending Amanda a text but she wasn't sure that was the safest route to go.

They pulled up to a warehouse and waited much like their last buy. A car pulled up next to them and two men got out. Franco and Ernesto got out while Monte, Rosita, and Chris waited in the truck. The buy went smoothly this time. Franco saw the money and the buyers saw the drugs. They exchanged, shook hands and then everyone went on their way. Next, they went to Dante's. He had more product for them to cut, weigh and package. It was a lot of product and even with everyone helping it was taking hours to get through it all. Meanwhile, back at the precinct, two o'clock had come and gone and there was no word from Christina. Schiller was supposed to call Olivia after Chris checked in with him but it was three thirty and she'd not gotten a phone call. They all figured they'd waited long enough so Olivia picked up the phone and called Schiller. He told her that Chris hadn't called yet but she shouldn't worry. It happened sometimes that undercovers were a little late. He'd be sure to call as soon as he heard from her.

"She hasn't called in yet" Olivia said as she hung up the phone.

"So what is he doing about it?" Amanda asked.

"Nothing" she said simply. "He doesn't seem to be worried".

"But Chris told us what has to happen if she's late for a check in" she argued. "You have to call him back and tell him what she said". Olivia looked to Fin and Nick for their opinions.

"I'm with Amanda" Fin said agreeing with his partner. Nick nodded his agreement as well so she picked up the phone and called Schiller back. She explained to him what Chris had said about Franco and what should happen if she were late for a check in. Twenty minutes later Schiller and his second in command were in her office with the SVU squad.

"We can't just go in and bring them back" Schiller said taking an available seat. "I've tried both Franco and Christina; neither of them is answering their phones. We have no way of knowing where they are or how to get them out safely".

"What about the apartment?" Carisi suggested. "You have the address don't you?" Schiller nodded.

"I already sent two of my guys over with the spare key. They went inside; nobody home" he said with a shrug. "But it didn't seem that anything was out of place; no signs of struggle or anything. We took that as a good sign".

"So what do we do?" Amanda asked worriedly.

"I wouldn't worry too much" Schiller said with a slight laugh. It was amusing to him how worried they all were. He was aware that Rollins was involved with Reyes so her concern was understandable but for the rest of them, it didn't make sense. "We always give a little cushion for them to be late" he continued.

"Christina told us not too" Amanda said firmly.

"Well, there's nothing we can do right now" he said nonchalantly. "We don't have an extract plan and…."

"You're always supposed to have a plan in place" Amaro said interrupting him, "for this very reason. If something goes wrong and your officers can't get in touch with you, you both know what to do and where to go to get them out safely".

"I'm aware of the protocol detective" he said annoyed. "But Chris joining in this operation happened very quickly. There was no time to put a proper plan in place".

"You already had an officer go missing. Don't you think it would be even more important to stick to protocol?" Fin asked judgmentally.

"You all think you can do so much better, move up the ranks and take up a command" he said standing up from his chair. He was done with them telling him how to do his job. "Until then, Captain Hawes left me in charge of running this operation and we won't be getting involved until I hear from my undercover officer".

"You mean officers, right?" Carisi corrected. "Because you said "officer" so….".

"Right. Officers" he said as he moved towards the door. "I will be in touch when Detective Reyes calls in, as we agreed. But until then, I won't be taking any action". With that, Schiller and his lackey left Benson's office. Amanda shut the door behind them.

"I don't trust him" Fin said as soon as the door was closed.

"I don't either" Nick said in agreement. "He has an officer already missing and he doesn't take every precaution to ensure the safety of the next officers he sends under".

"I didn't like how they came in here and ordered her to go undercover with Franco" Fin said chiming in again. "That's not protocol either. You got an officer missing, you don't send more undercover. You investigate under a missing person's report. It's a lot easier and quicker than starting over with new undercovers".

"But it was Franco" Carisi said speaking up again. "Franco was the one that requested her, right? And if he was dirty, and Schiller went along with that, against protocol…."

"Then he might be dirty too" Amanda said finishing his thought. "And we just told him everything that Chris told us about Franco".

"Damn it" Olivia sighed. She was realizing how much jeopardy they'd just put Christina in if they were right about Schiller. "You still have the number she called you from before?" she asked.

"Yeah but those were pay phones" she reminded her.

"What about her regular cell? She took it with her, didn't she?" Amanda nodded. "Call her". Amanda pulled out her phone and hit the speed dial for Chris' number.

Chris was sitting between Ernesto and Rosita when her phone started to ring in her pocket. She pulled her phone out her pocket and looked at the caller id. Amanda's name was on the screen. She knew she was calling because by now they knew she'd missed her check in with Schiller. She wanted more than anything to answer and tell her that she was okay and not to worry and that she'd call her back as soon as she could. But she couldn't answer. Not right now. The call went to voicemail and minute later her phone vibrated, indicating Amanda had left her a message. She put her phone back in her pocket and continued weighing and packaging product for sale.

"What are we gonna do?" Nick asked. "I mean, Schiller's right. We have no way of knowing where she is. Without an extract plan in place there's no way to get her out safely".

"There has to be something we can do" Amanda said in a frustrated tone.

"Can we go over Schiller's head?" Carisi asked. "Call Captain Hawes?" Olivia shook her head.

"No" she said plainly. "If Schiller's dirty then Hawes might be too. We can't trust any of them. Try her again" Olivia said with a nod to Rollins. Amanda called Chris' number again and again it went to voicemail. She shook her head and hung up the phone.

"Went to voicemail again". They were at a loss for how to proceed but they had to think of something. They couldn't just leave Chris hanging.

Meanwhile at Dante's they were finishing up weighing and packaging their product. Franco and the crew took the product and Dante got his money. They left Dante's and made it back to the club by seven where things were in full swing. Some waitresses came back to office to replenish their supply and then headed back out to floor. Chris followed them out and went to the bar. There was a private bar in the back room but Chris wanted to get away from Franco to check her phone and maybe get a message to Amanda. She pulled her from her pocket and listened to the voicemail from Amanda who'd asked where she was and what was going on and to call her back as soon as she could.

"Who's that?" Franco said in her ear. Chris deleted the message then slipped her phone back into her pocket.

"Nobody" she said shaking her head. "Just checking my messages" she added. The bartender finally came over and she asked for two beers. Everyone knew that Chris was with Franco at the club so she wasn't ever asked to pay for anything. She just took the beers and they headed back to the office again. She handed one of the beers to Rosita and kept the other to herself. She kept an eye on Ernesto, watching for him to make his exit. They were supposed to be meeting at his place and he had to be there to let everyone in. Chris went over to Franco and stood beside him while he played pool. "I missed my check in with Schiller today" she informed him.

"I wouldn't worry about that" he said nonchalantly. He took a drink from his beer then picked up his cue to get back to his pool game.

"Why not?" she asked confused. "We're on a strict check in schedule. If I don't call in, he might send some of the team in. It could blow everything".

"He's not coming and he won't send anybody". He seemed very sure of himself. Chris looked up just in time to see Ernesto going out the door into the club. He locked eyes with her and gave her a nod, letting her know he was leaving. She nodded back to let him know she was right behind him.

"How do you know that?" she asked turning her attention back to Franco.

"Because I talked to him earlier" he said annoyed with her questions.

"What?" she asked surprised by the admission. He ignored her and continued with his pool game. "Franco" she said knocking his arm. It screwed up his shoot and he hit the eight ball in the wrong pocket.

"Damn it Christina".

"What?"

"You just made me lose" he said angrily.

"I don't care" she said with a shrug. "Why didn't you tell me that you talked to Schiller?"

"Didn't come up" he said nonchalantly. Her burner phone vibrated in her pocket. She pulled it out and saw a text from Ernesto telling her to hurry it up. He was waiting for her in the car to drive over to his apartment together.

"Does he know about you?" she asked pocketing her phone. "Does he know about what you've been doing?" He just picked up his beer and took a drink, essentially answering her question. "Does Hawes know? Is he in on it too".

"Yeah, he is" he finally answered. "And you could be too if you'd get your head out of your ass and stop being so ethical". She scoffed and made her way out the back door, slamming it behind her. This argument had given her the perfect cover to leave the club. She took her regular cell from her pocket as she walked to Ernesto's car and sent Amanda a text message.

I'm fine. I have plan to end this. I'll call when I can

She tucked her phone back into her pocket and got in the car. Ernesto complained about her taking too long and making them late. She made up an excuse about Franco holding her up. He accepted it and drove off to his apartment. Alonzo was already there with Juaquin and Orlando. As they walked up the stairs, Manny pulled up in his truck. They all went upstairs to Ernesto's apartment. They didn't waste any time cracking open the beer and setting up the drugs. They all drank and did lines while Chris just relaxed with her beer and waited for whoever else was coming. Manny lit a joint and started passing it around. When it got to Chris, she passed on partaking.

"Come on" Juaquin said nudging her to take it. "You need to relax".

"I am relaxed" she said taking another drink from her beer.

"Not as relaxed as us" he argued. "You need to get on our level" he said holding out the joint for her to take.

"Soy bueno" she said with a smirk. (I'm good).

"Come on" he said not giving up. "Take it". She didn't want to draw too much attention to herself by continuing to refuse so she accepted it and took a long drag. She hadn't smoked pot since she was a teenager. It wasn't something she wanted to or really could fall back into. She took another drag before passing it off to the next person. They'd been at the apartment for twenty minutes when there was a knock at the door. Ernesto went over and looked through the peephole then opened the door. Monte and Rosita walked in and joined the party.

"Ok. Now that everyone is here, let's get started" Alonzo said wanting to start with the planning. "Now Ernesto and Monte have the particulars about the shipment coming in this week. Decirnos" he said looking between the two of them (Tell us).

"The shipment is coming in to the warehouse on Wednesday at three o'clock" Ernesto said starting the convo.

"What are we moving?" Chris asked, trying to sound casual.

"Ecstasy" Monte said proudly. "It's good shit. We're gonna make a lot of money".

"Since when do we push ecstasy?" she asked.

"Since now" Alonzo said authoritatively. "We're gonna move into the night club scene. Expand our customer base, increase our profit".

"What? You got something against X?" Jauquin asked.

"No" she said shaking her head. "I'm fine with it".

"We meet at the warehouse at two" Ernesto said continuing with the briefing. "We come locked and loaded in case these jokers want to try anything stupid. If everything goes right, we get out product and they get their money".

"Y Franco?" Christina asked. "How do we bring him?"

"We go to him" Alonzo said simply, "real civil like and tell him how it is. I'm running the show now. He falls in line or we get rid of him the same way he got rid of Elena. Either way, he's not gonna be a problem".

"Where are we doing this?" Manny asked.

"We can meet at the club tomorrow" Ernesto suggested, "I can make sure Franco is there" he said before looking to Christina. "Unless you want to take care of that part?"

"No" she said shaking her head. "You do it. Tell him, there's a problem with the count or something". Ernesto nodded his head.

"Bueno" Alonzo said pleased with the plan. "So we meet at the club tomorrow before opening. Say four o'clock?" They all nodded in agreement. "Excelente". They stayed at the apartment a while longer to iron out all the details of the meeting with Franco and the upcoming shipment. Once all plans were in place, it turned into a bit of a party. They turned on music, kept the beers coming and the drugs laid out on the table. Chris stayed for about hour before saying her goodbyes. Alonzo offered to drive her home but she declined saying that she could use the walk. She said she'd see him tomorrow and made her exit. On the walk home, she was finally able to call Amanda back.

"Hi" she said softly. Hearing the sound of her voice immediately relaxed her.

"Hi" Amanda said back. She was happy to hear her voice and know that she was okay. "We were all worried about you".

"I know. I'm sorry. I couldn't get away to call you" she explained. "Are you still at the precinct". It was just past ten o'clock so chances are she was home.

"Yeah" Amanda said to her surprise. "We're all here. We were waiting for your call. Hold on, I'll put you on speaker". She took the phone away from her ear, pressed the button to put her on speaker phone and set it down in the middle of them.

"Hey" Amaro said, "What's going on?"

"I know what happened to Elena" she said sadly. "Ernesto killed her and Franco ordered it. they're all in on it. Franco, Schiller, Hawes; they're all dirty".

"How'd you find that out?" Fin out curiously.

"Franco told me" she said flatly. "He was so casual about it. I don't think he cares about what happens to him anymore".

"That's not good" Nick said shaking his head.

"I know. But Alonzo is making his move tomorrow to take over and there's a shipment of ecstasy due in on Wednesday at a warehouse. I'll text you the address. That'll be our one shot to take them down".

"How's it playing out?" Fin asked as he sat down and leaned forward to listen attentively.

"The shipment is due in at three o'clock. We're setting up at the warehouse at two" she said starting with details. "There will be a lot of fire power there so it needs to be a quick take down". She gave them all the details about the shipment coming in and the meeting at the club tomorrow to take Franco out of the game. "If he doesn't tell them that he'll work with them they're going to kill him. I don't know how to stop that from happening" she said worriedly. "And if he does agree to join them, he could still out me as a cop. They don't have anything on me like they have on him…."

"If he tells them you're a cop, they'll kill you same as they killed Elena" Fin said bluntly.

"Yeah" she said in a defeated tone. "So what do you think I should do? The meeting is tomorrow. There's no way for me to get out of it now".

"What if you just don't go?" Amanda asked. "Just blow it off. Make up an excuse".

"I can't do that" she sighed. "I have to be there for Franco".

"Forget Franco" Nick said dismissively. "He deserves whatever's coming to him".

"He deserves to go to prison, yes, but I don't want him to die". She continued to walk slowly to give herself more time to talk to them.

"Well, we don't want you to die" Olivia said finally speaking. "You need to stop trying to protect Franco and start thinking about yourself".

"What if I tell him about the meeting tomorrow?" she suggested. "I can convince him to go along with it. He'll tell Alonzo that he'll join his crew, Wednesday we'll do the raid, and maybe get him a deal if he cooperates".

"Yeah, that's a big if" Carisi said skeptically. "He already killed an undercover cop to cover his own ass. What makes you think he'll do it?"

"Because it's me" she said confidently. "I have to believe he still cares about me enough to want to save my life. And if he doesn't want to do it for me then he'll do it for himself. What other option do I have? If I don't show up tomorrow, they'll know something's up or at least have enough suspicions to get rid of Franco and maybe change their plans and we'll lose them all". She didn't want to jeapordize herself or Franco and she didn't want all of this to be for nothing. Elena's death, taking Franco down, the time away from Amanda and her family wasn't going to be a waste. She wasn't ending this without taking down everyone involved in Elena's death and Alonzo's drug operation.

"What does your gut say?" Amaro asked.

"What is it with you and this gut thing?" Chris asked annoyed. Amaro was always talking about his gut and it got everyone's nerves. She'd finally made it to her apartment building. She walked up the steps to the door but didn't go inside. She stood on the stoop to finish her conversation.

"Hey, you have instincts for a reason" he said defensively. "You gotta trust them. So, what does your gut say?"

"My gut says that Franco's the same guy he's always been. He cares about himself more than anything or anyone else. He'll do what he has to do to save himself" she said confidently.

"Then tell him".

"Ok".

"Can you call back after you talk to him?" Amanda asked.

"Probably not tonight" she answered. "But I'll call in the morning and again after the meeting to tell you how it went. We can iron out the details of the raid then". Amanda didn't want to go to bed not knowing how Christina's talk with Franco went but she'd have to.

"Ok".

"Be careful" Olivia said in her mom voice.

"I will". Amanda picked up the phone and took it off speaker as she stepped out of Olivia's office to finish her call with Chris.

"I can't wait to see you" she said softly into the speaker.

"Me too". She took a deep breath and let it go slowly. "Two more days" she said with anticipation.

"Two more days" Amanda repeated. "I love you".

"I love you too". They said good bye and hung up. Amanda went back into Benson's office and Chris went upstairs to the apartment she was sharing with Franco. The SVU team settled in to hash out the details of their plan to raid the warehouse and Chris braced herself for the conversation she was about to have with Franco. They had completely separate but equally important tasks. The fate of the undercover operation and Christina's life depended on them.