Intentional End

Chapter 24

Midmorning Tuesday

October 16

"Deakins. . . . Jack! This is a surprise. How are you? . . . Yeah, he's one of mine. . . . Oh dear God, no. . . . What happened? . . . Jesus. . . . Yeah, thanks Jack. I'll take care of it. . . . Yeah, I'll, I'll call you later. . . . Yeah, yeah. Bye." Jimmy Deakins hung up and covered his face with his hands. He couldn't believe it and fought tears. Get yourself together, he told himself; you need to be strong. He sat for another minute and tried to think of what to say. Finally, he stood.

Eames and Goren were going over the crime scene photos and preparing a timeline for the prosecution. Bobby kept looking at his watch and seemed more preoccupied than usual. Deakins walked from his office to the task room and said, "Bobby, come with me."

The tall detective stood, followed his boss and was surprised when Deakins headed for an empty interrogation room. Deakins opened the door and Bobby followed. "Shut the door and have a seat." Bobby did not like the way his boss looked. Deakins pulled out a chair and sat, his hands going to his face again.

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Robinson entered Bobby's apartment and softly shut the door behind him. He went straight to the bedroom and used a sweeper the size of a deck of cards to find the bug. He knew it was in the picture frame over the dresser, but didn't want to waste time searching for it. In less than a minute he picked it from the corner of the canvas. Next, he went into the kitchen and swept the top and bottom hinges on cupboard to the right of the sink; the sweeper beeped and Robinson popped out the wired hinge and replaced it with the original.

Then, he walked into the living room and stood before the bookcases, admiring the number of books. He took a minute to scan the titles and was impressed – this guy is no dummy; but they already knew that. Robinson swept along the top and down the right edges of the bookcase and, again, the sweeper beeped. He lifted the bug and slipped it into his pocket with the wired hinge and bedroom bug. Robinson took one more look at the collection of books. He couldn't resist pulling out a volume with a gloved finger to better read the title, "Erotische Dichtung."

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"Captain?"

Deakins had to wait until he was sure his voice was steady. "Bobby, Jack Emerson, a friend of mine from the Evanston PD just called."

Bobby couldn't draw a breath.

"The building super found Gleason's body in her apartment early this morning." He looked at the man he considered a younger brother.

Bobby could not process what his friend and boss had just told him. He still couldn't draw a breath.

"Do you understand what I just said?" He watched realisation slowly dawn on Bobby's face.

"Uh," he cleared his throat, "uh, wh –, what?"

"Bobby, Gleason's dead," Deakins said softly; he reached across the table to put his hand on Bobby's forearm.

Bobby inhaled a huge, shuddering breath. God. Oh, God. "What, what happened?" he whispered.

"A carbon monoxide alarm went off and the super went to each of the apartments to notify people to get out. When she got to Gleason's apartment, she didn't answer the door, so the super let herself in and found Gleason in bed. It was carbon monoxide, Bobby." He watched the other man closely. "I am so sorry."

Bobby stood up and put his hands in his pockets. He turned, but did not pace; he stood absolutely still. Gleason is dead? No, no, no, there's been a mistake. He could not allow the possibility of her not being ok take shape in his head. He pulled his phone from his pocket and hit speed dial one. Gleason's phone rang five times and quit; she still did not want voice mail. He looked at the clock and said, "She's, uh, she's sleeping. Last night, she said she wanted to sleep in. She's sleeping. She said she'd call me when she woke up. She's fine. She's sleeping." He slipped his phone back into his pocket.

"Bobby, Gleason is not sleeping."

Bobby stood and looked at nothing. Then, his hands went to his face. He began to shiver and it escalated into a shake. "No. No. No. No no-no-no!" he said through his hands. Deakins was on his feet and stood in front of Bobby, both hands on the other man's upper arms. Bobby quaked. A soft mewling issued from under his hands and Deakins embraced his friend and Bobby slumped against his Captain.

"Here, sit down," Deakins guided Bobby to a chair and Bobby sat. "I'll be right back." Deakins went into the watch room, took a bottle of water and returned to the interrogation room. Bobby sat with elbows on the table, face in his hands. Deakins twisted open the bottle, set it in front of Bobby and sat beside him, a hand between Bobby's shoulders.

Bobby took the handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his face and nose. He still shook. "Here take a drink," Deakins held up the water. Bobby took it from him, swallowed a mouthful, and gagged; he nearly threw it up. "Easy, easy," Deakins said. Bobby recovered and leaned back in the chair. He still shook.

"I'll go to Chicago with you. We can leave this afternoon." Bobby nodded. He still shook. "Stay here for a while. I'm going to tell Alex." Bobby nodded and still shook.

Deakins looked at his best detective for a minute and then stood. He glanced back at Bobby from the door and then went to tell the man's partner.

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One more look around the apartment and Robinson sighed; he wished he wouldn't get attached to the people he watched. He turned and opened the door, stepped through and nearly ran into Mrs. Ziegler.

"Oh, pardon me!" she exclaimed.

"Sorry," Robinson replied averting his face. He turned to lock the door and Mrs. Ziegler watched him.

"Are you Bobby's brother?"

He ignored the old woman.

"I'm sorry about your mother's passing. I never met her, you know, but if she raised you and Bobby, I am sure she was a wonderful woman."

Robinson began to sweat. He finished locking the door and headed for the steps.

"I'll let Bobby know you stopped by. Have a nice day," she hollered after him and headed for her

door.

Robinson stopped dead at the top of the steps. Shit! He knew what he had to do and hated this part of the job. He continued down a few steps, then stopped, waited a few seconds and then crept back up. Sure enough, the old woman was unlocking her apartment door. Robinson rushed silently down the hall and pushed the old woman into her apartment.

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"Alex."

Eames followed the boss to his office and shut the door behind her. "Gleason died this morning," Deakins said without preamble.

Eames dropped into a chair and covered her mouth. "Oh, God, Bobby! What happened? Her heart?"

"Carbon monoxide; the super found her in bed."

Eames' eyes filled, "Oh God. Oh Bobby." Eames thought for a minute, and then asked, turning in her chair to look through the glass walls, "Where is he? How is he?"

"He's in IR three. I'm going to Chicago with him. We'll leave this afternoon."

"I need to see him." Eames stood and Deakins followed her.

Bobby hadn't moved since Deakins left and he didn't look at them when they entered. Eames sat across from him and reached for his hand. He neither looked at her nor met her hand. "Bobby?" she whispered. She cried softly, silently.

Bobby seemed to focus and looked from his partner to his boss. "I, uh, I, I need to go to her. I, need to be with her. I, need to . . . I ne –," He gasped two huge breaths and continued, "I need to go to Evanston. She needs me. I have to go." He stood and Deakins stood as well.

"Bobby, stay here with Alex for right now. I'm going to make a few calls, get some things organized, and then we'll go to the airport. Stay here with Alex." Then, to Eames he said, "Stay with him." She nodded.

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Robinson sat in his vehicle for a minute calming himself. He was a surveillance expert, not a killer. Wycoff is going to have my head for this; but I had no choice, the old woman was a liability, a witness, he said to himself. Yeah, he continued thinking, but the consequences and the fallout are going to echo throughout the agency. Robinson hated himself. He opened his cell and rang Wycoff.

"Is it done? The place clean?" Wycoff asked without greeting.

"Uh, yeah, but there's been a complication."

Wycoff's silence told Robinson all he needed to know. After a moment of seething, Wycoff asked, "What did you do?"

Oh, man, Robinson hated telling his boss this, "I had to remove a witness."

"Do not tell me you left a body," he said with ominous darkness.

"I had no choice, the old woman engaged me. She thought I was the brother and said he'd let the detective know I was there."

Wycoff's hand tightened into a fist. Goddamn! Why can't things go smoothly? Just once, he thought. "Where are you?"

"Outside the apartment," Robinson replied.

"You are sitting outside his building?" Wycoff asked incredulously. "Are you out of your fucking mind?"

Robinson felt like a six-year-old in the middle of a scolding and had nothing to offer as a reply.

"Robinson, you ass-hole, you get your ass away from that building and on a plane back here. Do you understand me?"

"Yes. What do you want me to do with the bugs?"

"What you always do!" the boss screamed and hung up.

The agent jerked the phone away from his ear and clicked off.

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Deakins walked to the elevator and rode to the fifteenth floor. "I need to speak to the Chief," he told the assistant.

"He's with –," she began.

"I want to see him now! This is an emergency," Deakins said with vehemence.

"Certainly," she said and went to knock on the Chief of Detectives' door.

Deakins explained what had happened and the Chief was shocked. "Of course, go with him. We'll get things covered here, Jimmy. How is he?"

"He's in shock. I don't know what this is going to do to him."

Both men stood quietly and then the Chief said, "Take as much time as you need. Stay with him. He doesn't have any other family, does he?"

"He just lost his mom a few weeks ago and he has a brother who's out of the picture. That's it."

"Take care of him, Jimmy. Keep me posted."

Deakins nodded and said, "Thanks."

He returned to the eleventh floor, went into his office and called Angie.

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"Bobby, I'm sorry," Eames said softly. She needed a tissue, had none, so she used her fingers and the back of her hand instead. "Do you want me to go to Chicago with you and the Captain?"

His eyes shifted to her and he shook his head. They sat quietly and then he said softly, "Alex, I think there's been a mistake. She's ok. There's been a mistake."

Alex's face crumpled and she said softly, "Oh, Bobby, no. No, Gleason is, Gleason is gone. Bobby, she's gone." Now Eames cried aloud having said it aloud. She reached for his hands and took them in her own. He looked at her and nodded. Then he slid his handkerchief across to her. She took it, wiped her face and nose, and slid it back. It lay on the table between them.

"Alex, I need to go to her. She needs me. I have to go," he took his handkerchief and stood, she rose with him.

"Bobby, stay here with me. Deakins will be right back and then he'll go with you to see her. Ok? Stay here with me."

Bobby moved to the door and Alex took his arm, "Bobby. . ."

He turned and pulled his arm from her hand, "She needs me," he said flatly and pulled open the door. Eames followed him out. Deakins met them in the hallway; he had his coat on and keys out.

" Alex, look after things here. Don't say anything to anyone; the Chief is putting out a memo. I'll call you. Call me with anything." He turned to Bobby who stood numbly. "Let Alex lock up your weapon, let's get your coat and we'll go."

Bobby unclipped his weapon from his belt and handed it to his partner. He glanced at her in the way he does and followed Deakins to the bullpen.

No one even noticed the two men move toward the elevators.

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