Title: The City Between Us
Chapter 18 – Setting a Trap?
Across the street in another building, on the same floor level as theirs, Jake sat in a dark, empty apartment and looked at them through a pair of binoculars. "Til death do us part…"
Very early the next morning, Kelly stood by the window and looked out into the dark indigo night and let his nervous gaze dart around the buildings across the street and down below before it lifted back up and rested on his own worried reflection. 'Jake wouldn't run. That's not his MO. He'll stick around…close to finish the job to his satisfaction.'
"Where are you you damn bastard," Kelly whispered as he felt his fist tighten as his brain flashed back in time to when Erin walked into her burnt out apartment and turned to him and mouthed one word 'Jake'. He had taken her home thinking that it would set her back or perhaps put her down a path of emotional destruction; but Jake hadn't counted on their teams coming together to band against him.
He caught her frame in his peripheral vision as she neared and turned to offer her silhouette a small smile. "I know he's out there."
Erin wrapped her arms around him as the two of them remained cloaked by the wall partition so that the man who now watched them wasn't able to see them.
"I can hear you thinking."
"I want to ask something but I don't."
"Ask."
"You know him…" Kelly started as a small wince danced across his face for a few seconds as they remained in the still darkness.
"And?"
"And…where can he be right now?"
Silence started to develop for a few seconds as he held her tight in his grasp and rested his cheek atop her head; their hearts racing a bit faster than when they first came together.
"Sorry. I know you told the team…"
"You mean right now?"
"Yes."
"I'd say…watching this place. There was this case where we arrested a perp who was hiding in the attic of his neighbor's house as he spied on his ex and Jake said he got it. He said he knew why the perp wanted to be close but still far enough away so as not to arouse too much suspicion and then strike when the moment suited him."
"Call Voight."
"Kelly…"
"What if he's watching us right now? Just waiting until the moment suits him?"
"Kelly…you've looked outside. If he's watching us right now and we call Voight…he'd see him coming and disappear. We need to wait for him to come out of hiding and then make our move."
"You know…there might be a way that Voight can get at him without being seen."
"How? An invisible suit?"
"No…" Kelly gently chuckled. "But if we knew what building he was in, Voight could use the underground sewer entrance and get up into the building's boiler room."
"Oh I'm sure he'd love that. But…" Erin started but as the idea started to make sense she nodded her head.
"You agree with me?"
"I actually do. Jake would never suspect that. He will suspect an attack from the front. And once we have him pinned down we can set that up."
"What? How?"
"Leave that to me."
"Yeah but how can we find a shadow in the dark?" Kelly asked in a huff.
"Well if he's up when we are or is watching…whenever," she paused as her body offered up a shudder and his grasp around her tightened. "We get some of the team in the building during the day. Voight can be in our building to set up and then tonight we'll…give him something to watch and they'll just see what heat signatures are up and active and eliminate them one by one."
"That…doesn't sound that farfetched actually."
"It sounds brilliant," Erin smiled. "Because I thought of it."
"Oh is that so?" Kelly grinned as he scooped her up into his grasp and carried his wife back into their bedroom, the inner wall once again keeping them hidden from the eyes that continued to watch them.
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"You can try to sleep soundly Erin…but enjoy your new life while you can…it's going to end very soon!"
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"Listen up!" Voight's voice boomed later that same morning as the Intelligence team gathered around his desk as he held up a role of blueprints. "Erin called me earlier with a plan to flush out Jake that…might just work."
"She knows where he is?" Jay asked in shock.
"Why the hell can't we just go get this guy?" Antonio followed in haste.
"Hold on a minute…she doesn't know for sure…just a hunch and her hunches are usually on point. She knows Jake better than any of us."
"Where?"
"Somewhere he can watch them."
"Across the street?"
"Either directly or indirectly."
"And those…?"
"They'll be doing some errands today to see if he can be flushed out of hiding but not counting on it. Jake is a thinker. He's quiet, methodical and devious. He might follow but he'll probably stay put until dark, perhaps giving them a false sense of security during the day with no sightings so they'll let their guard down, thinking that he's left town. These…" Voight rolled out the blueprints on his desk and all eyes looked down. "Show the ways into the city tunnels that lead into the boiler rooms of these two buildings. Three teams of two. You four will get into the building across from Erin and Kelly's; Jay and I will be waiting in Kelly's. We'll enter here…a block down."
"What if this bastard has camera's or something set up and sees us coming?" Adam Ruzek asked as Kim looked at him in concern.
"Doubt he'll have had time to set up that many cameras in the time he was missing but we don't know so caution is key," Voight reminded them gravely. "Each team will have an infrared and thermal imaging device and whoever's up on each floor we'll just eliminate them as a suspect during that time. Jay and I will monitor the activity from here. We see movement, we send you to that floor and room. If we move smooth and fast tonight, it should all end without incident. It's a longshot and we all know that but it's our best shot to end this somewhat peacefully. Okay…let's get ready."
"Hope it works boss."
"Yeah…me too," Voight huffed as he watched his team disperse and hung back a few minutes before he got ready to join them. He looked at a photo of Erin and Kelly on their wedding day on his desk and felt his stomach tighten into a nervous knot. He too had heard the comments Jake made about the Marlow case and knew he wasn't a man to suffer lightly. I'll bet this damn bastard already has something rigged…
"Jay!"
"Yeah…what's up?"
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"Ready?"
"To be a decoy?" Kelly asked with a small snap. "No…I want him to come at me and finish this."
"He's watching."
"I know…maybe he'll think if we're fighting…" his voice trailed off as her hand rested on his and he looked at her with a small frown. "I just want this to be over so we can start our new life together."
"Me too. This will work. I know it will."
He offered her a tight lipped smile as his hand twisted around and clutched hers and held it tightly in his grasp. "So…where to first?"
"Not 51. I don't want to involve any of your team and he'll stay clear of 21. So…shopping?"
"Seriously?"
"Well…we need groceries and if we do just normal stuff with a bit of paranoia it might make him come out of hiding and then the teams will be ready."
"Okay…where to first?" He asked again with a grin.
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Matt looked at Kelly's text and then up at his wife and boss with a heavy frown. "They have a plan in place and now we all just have to hope it'll work."
"Antonio will make sure it works," Gabby stated with confidence as she squeezed her husband's hand.
"Anything we can do?" Boden inquired.
"Voight said…just business as usual. He thinks this guy Jake might have put a wire on one of the lines here as he wouldn't have had time to get into the house with someone here all the time. Any shift would have noticed someone off and we all know that only old 'Gus' does the electrical. Anyone else would have been stopped, questioned and watched," Matt reminded them.
"So…we just wait," Boden huffed as Matt's lips drew into a tight line and he nodded.
"And pray we don't get any 911 calls needing help for anyone but Jake Wilson," Matt added in slight sarcasm.
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"Everyone in place?" Voight asked in a hushed tone as and Jay waited an empty middle floor apartment a few floors up from Kelly's loft. It had taken them a few hours to navigate through the underground sewer system and come up into their intended destinations but they did so without, they hoped, arousing any suspicion from the man they were hoping to catch before he could do anymore damage or cause any more harm.
"Kim and I are in place," Ruzek's whispered voice replied over the radio as they stood in an empty apartment on the top floor of the building facing Kelly's apartment.
"10-4 with me and Atwater," Antonio answered as and Kevin Atwater stood in the cramped boiler room of the same building across the street.
"Okay…now we just wait for the cover of darkness or if we get a call from Erin. Doubt this guy will show himself during the day but we gotta be prepared for anything."
"Got regular unmarked cars outside on the street ready to go if necessary and Platt's on standby with the radio's in case we need to run a blockade," Jay informed them. "This bastard runs…we'll be ready."
Voight looked at him with a heavy frown as he pushed the off button but said nothing.
"This will work."
"It has to. I don't want Erin to spend her new life looking over her shoulder or mourning the man she's meant to spend the rest of her life with."
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"Kinda like this," Kelly mentioned as they slowly meandered the aisles of the busy supermarket.
"Grocery shopping?"
"Couple stuff…married couple stuff," he shrugged as he watched her put something into the basket and then arched his brows.
"What? Quinoa is good for us."
"Ok-ay…what's it good for?"
"Not sure…heard about it on social media," she grinned as he chuckled. "Hey I gotta think of stuff that's easy but not from a box. Don't want you to think you married a woman totally useless in the kitchen."
"I don't mind doing some of the cooking. Just don't expect a lot of variety," he replied as he looked back down at the newest item in their buggy. "What's it made of?"
"Quinoa," she retorted as he just rolled his eyes and they continued on their way. Once they were done, they slowly headed for the check out and then back outside into the brisk afternoon. "I can't wait for summer. Even a light dusting of snow is too much."
"Yeah never liked doing road calls in the cold. At least we can pass off traffic duty to the candidates but even still…sometimes it's all hands on deck and that…yeah it sucks."
"Well we could always go someplace warm for our honeymoon."
"Not a cabin in the mountains?" He teased as her lips pursed.
"Running water?"
"And a flushing toilet with a bed not made of grass."
"Fireplace?"
"And windows with shades."
"Well…that does sound kinda tempting," she smiled as she leaned in and planted a kiss on his cool lips. "Course staying home with our own fireplace and shades drawn also sounds good."
But as Kelly's mind thought about Jake watching them get intimate his fists curled and his jaw set. "I'm glad he can't see into the rest of the loft…like the bedroom."
"We're not doing anything like that in the living room until he's caught. I…I don't want that either."
"Come on…let's go home."
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"I can't seem to concentrate on anything other than him possibly watching us right now," Erin whispered as she cast a glance toward the outside window that faced the street. The sheers were drawn but it was enough to give anyone on the outside looking in, a glimpse of the fact that they were inside and making dinner.
"But your team is in place so they got this covered."
"Right…" she huffed with a nod as she pulled his phone; her back to the wall.
'It's Erin. Anything?' she texted Voight.
'Starting to see movement but more like regular people coming home from work. Anything we can't nail down, I'm quietly sending the teams to investigate. Don't need the high tech stuff just yet. Don't count out good old binoculars.'
She couldn't help but stifle a snicker which prompted Kelly to look up in wonder. "Hank is anti-technology."
"Yeah that doesn't surprise me. Anything?"
"Just regular domestic stuff. You know…boring stuff," she winked.
"Yeah those boring married folk," he teased back as he pulled her into his arms and held her close. "I don't care if he's watching," he whispered as he planted a warm kiss on her lips. "Love you."
"Love you too….so very much."
But at the same time they found solace in the arms of the other the team was about to discover something that would surprise them all – but not in a good way.
"Okay…got something odd. 5th floor up. Looks like the sixth window from the south. A shadow of a man pacing back and forth. Comes to the window and then pulls back quickly. Dressed in black. Go quietly. He's in their direct line of sight," Voight directed as he looked at Jay who lightly shrugged.
"Alright…heading their now."
Voight held his breath as he waited for word back from his teams on the hopeful takedown of their suspect.
"Hate this waiting," Jay huffed as he pulled back, paced himself and then went back to looking through the scope.
"Hopefully it'll be over soon."
"So…what do you want for dessert?" Erin asked with a soft smile.
"You," Kelly replied with a playful wag of his brows.
"We're moving in!" Antonio informed Voight as he and Atwater prepared to enter via the master key they had obtained from the building super as Burgess and Ruzek flanked the door on either side.
"Hmm don't think we can do that right now," she retorted as she stood up and headed for the bedroom. "Be right back!"
"Do you have Jake Wilson!" Voight hissed into the radio as it seemed like forever before the shouting voices died down.
"You're not going to believe this!" Antonio's irate voice was heard.
"What's going on?"
"What's going on?" Kelly asked in wonder as his wife lingered.
"Apartment is empty and there's a guy in here…what's your name!"
"B-ben…B-ben Carter. I was…p-paid to be here. I s-swear!"
"What the hell is going on!"
"Sir…he said some guy who fits Jake's description told him to come here tonight, wear black, pace back and forth, go to the window a few times, wait until midnight and then meet in the park for the final payment."
"So if he's there…"
"Oh no!" Kim Burgess excited voice was heard as she cast a worried glance across the street at Erin and Kelly's apartment. "HE'S OVER THERE!"
"Erin?" Kelly asked as he got up and went in search of his wife. But just as he did, the door bust open, all the lights went black and just as Erin rounded the corner with a small flashlight in her hand, the flash from a gun was seen.
"What the hell!"
*bang!*
"KELLY!"
A/N: uh oh! Will Jake get his final revenge? Will the team stop him in time? Just a bit more to go here, so please do review before you go and thanks so much!