Chapter 34

The SWAT leader, Lieutenant Tim Parker, made his way toward the building with his team. Cragen then turned to his group of detectives. "Okay, Fin, John and I will go inside with SWAT. You five cover things from out here."

"Whoa, wait a minute." Jamie argued. "I want to be in on this."

"Yeah, me too." Nicole agreed. "I mean, I'm the one he wants, right?"

Cragen looked at the two women. "I know that. But we don't want too many people in there. Let's just get Kathleen out of there safe and once Neuman's in custody, then you can have a crack at him. Agreed?"

Nicole sighed. She didn't like it but nodded anyway. "Agreed."

"Okay, Fin, John, you're with me." Cragen said and walked toward the building.

They entered through the front door and followed SWAT up the stairs. Once they were on the fourth floor, they all positioned themselves around the door.

/Chung Chung/

Meanwhile, outside, Jamie and Nicole were getting antsy. "This is unbelievable. We have to stand out here with our thumbs up our asses and they get all the action. Tell me that's fair." Jamie complained.

Olivia walked over to Jamie and place a hand on her shoulder. "Take it easy. Cragen had his reasons for wanting us out here."

Nicole shook her head. "No, I agree with Jamie. We gotta do something."

Jamie turned around and looked toward the back of the building. Just then an idea hit her and she walked over to Nicole. "Come on. Let's go around back."

Nicole nodded and followed Jamie. "Whoa, hang on. Where are you two going?" Olivia asked.

Nicole turned and looked at Olivia. "We're gonna cover the back."

"Look, that's not a good idea."

"Yeah, well, I think someone should be covering it incase they try and make a break for it."

Olivia sighed and nodded. "Alright, but keep your asses covered."

"Don't worry. We're trained professionals." Nicole smirked and then continued to follow Jamie.

/Chung Chung/

Back upstairs on the fourth floor the SWAT team was ready with the battering ram. Cragen walked over to the side of the door and banged hard. "NYPD! Open the door! We have the place surrounded!"

They waited a full minute and when they heard no movement from inside, Cragen nodded to Parker who gave his guys the go ahead. They knocked the door down and everyone flooded into the room with guns drawn.

Once the apartment was checked over, they all met back in the living room. "There's no one here, Captain." Munch stated.

"Damn! Where the hell..." Cragen started to say but Fin cut him off.

"Hold up. I hear something."

"What?" Munch asked.

"It sounds like someone's banging on something."

They all listened and Fin followed the sound of the banging. It took him into a back room. He found a trunk at the foot of a bed that was padlocked shut.

"Someone get a sledge hammer or a crowbar!" Fin yelled.

"What did you find?" Cragen asked as he Munch entered the room.

"There's someone in this trunk." Fin replied as a SWAT man entered the room and handed Fin the sledge hammer. He hit the lock a few times until it popped open. He lifted the lid and they found Kathleen inside the trunk, bound and gagged. Fin dropped the hammer and he and Munch helped Kathleen out of the trunk. "It's okay now. You're safe."

"Get EMS here!" Cragen yelled.

Munch untied her hands as Fin was working on her feet. When Kathleen's eyes focused on them, she started crying. Munch took her into his arms and whispered softly. "Shhh, it's okay, sweetheart."

/Chung Chung/

As Nicole and Jamie were rounding the corner at the back of the building, the back door flew open and knocked Nicole's gun out of her hand. When the figure charged at her, she held out her arm and clotheslined him to the ground. Suddenly she felt a sharp pain go through her arm.

She looked down at the figure lying on the ground and recognized him instantly. It was Kerry Boivin. She kicked him and started yelling at him. "You fucking asshole. You ripped my fucking stitches."

Jamie ran up behind Nicole and trained her gun on Kerry. When she saw he was incapacitated, she flipped him over and handcuffed him. As she the cuffs snapped shut, another man grabbed Nicole from behind.

Jamie whirled around and trained her gun on him. That's when she noticed he was holding a knife to Nicole's throat. "Drop the knife!" Jamie yelled as she noticed two men running back up the stairs behind them.

"No way! You drop the gun or I cut her fucking throat!" the man yelled back.

Elliot, who had heard the commotion, made his way to the back of the building. As he rounded the corner the man holding Nicole was temporarily distracted and turned his attention to Elliot.

As the man turned, Nicole was able to maneuver herself and elbowed him in the gut. He doubled over and Nicole kicked the knife out of his hand and then kneed him in the face. This sent him flying back against the dumpster with a loud thud. She stood over him and looked into the bloody face of her ex-partner Lee Neuman.

Elliot and Jamie ran over to Nicole. "I saw two men run back up the stairs." Jamie said.

"Go. I can handle them." Nicole replied.

"We can't leave you alone with them." Elliot said as Nicole was now cuffing the man she took down single handedly.

Jamie was already in the building and making her way up the stairs because she knew Elliot was there to help Nicole out.

"Go with Jamie. I'll get these guys into a car."

Elliot hesitated for a minute but then took off into the building.

/Chung Chung/

Jamie was quickly making her way up the stairs when she heard a door slam ahead of her and footsteps closing in behind her.

She glanced behind her and noticed a figure rounding the steps and making his way toward her. She decided not to take any chances and crouched down low. When the figure hit the landing, Jamie pounced on him and knocked him into the wall.

That's when realized who it was. "Shit, Elliot, I thought you were one of them." Jamie said catching her breath.

"Where are they?"

"I think their on the roof." Jamie said as they continued up the stairs.

Once they made it to the roof, they heard a loud whirring sound outside. "Shit I think they got a chopper waiting." Elliot said as they bounded through the door.

Sure enough they saw two men running toward a chopper that had just landed on the roof.

"Go around that way and we'll cut them off!" Jamie yelled to Elliot over the sound of the chopper blades.

Elliot nodded and they ran toward the two men. Elliot managed to cut his guy off and knock him to the ground.

The guy Jamie was chasing had made it to the chopper and was climbing inside when Jamie grabbed him and tried to pull him out. "Take this damn thing up!" the man yelled to the chopper pilot.

The chopper started to rise and Jamie held on to the guy. He was trying to fight her off but she wouldn't let go. As the chopper kept rising Jamie felt her feet being lifted off the ground and she pulled the guy as hard as she could.

Just then the man lost his grip and they both fell back onto the roof.

/Chung Chung/

Downstairs on the street in front of the building Olivia and Jeffries had taken Kerry and Lee into custody, EMS had just left with Kathleen and now Nicole was there with Munch, Fin and Cragen. "Where the hell are Jamie and Elliot?" Cragen asked.

"Jamie saw two guys running back up the stairs so she and Elliot gave chase." Nicole replied as they looked up and noticed the chopper rising off the roof.

"What the hell?" Munch said.

"Alright, let's get in there and help them. We can't afford to let these guys get away." Cragen stated.

/Chung Chung/

Back on the roof, Elliot had subdued his guy and had him handcuffed to a pipe. He looked around, couldn't see Jamie anywhere and then realized the chopper had taken off.

Just then he heard a shotgun blast and ran around to the other side of the roof. As he got there he saw Jamie landing on her back. "Jamie!"

The man spun around but before he could get a shot off, the door to the roof burst open and the four detectives came barreling through, knocking the man off balance and sending the shotgun skidding across the roof.

Cragen and Munch grabbed the man and picked him up, handcuffing him in the process. "Well, well, well. Captain Spencer, what a nice surprise. You should've informed me you were coming to town. I would have thrown you a welcoming party." Cragen said.

"Go to hell." Spencer spat back.

"Oh, I've already been there. But I believe on the map it's known as Dallas."

Fin and Nicole were both kneeling next to Jamie, who was gasping for air. "Hey, take it easy baby." Fin said as he opened her windbreaker and saw the shredded kevlar vest underneath. He checked it thoroughly and then looked at Nicole. "The kevlar caught them."

Nicole let out a breath that she didn't even realize she was holding. "Thank God."

Fin turned his attention back to Jamie as Nicole called for EMS on her portable. "Baby, it's okay. You just got the wind knocked out of you. Thank God, you were wearing the vest."

"The... baby..." Jamie gasped.

"Don't worry, Jamie, the baby'll be okay." Nicole said taking her hand but gave Fin a worried look.

Elliot walked over to Munch and Cragen when he noticed that Fin and Nicole were attending to Jamie. "Captain, you are not gonna believe who the other guy is."

"Who?" Cragen asked curiously.

"I.A. Sergeant David Matthews."

"Oh this just great. Now the filth is in our own department." Munch remarked.

"There's filth in every department, John." Elliot replied.

"Alright, Elliot, we'll handle these guys. You go to the hospital to see your daughter." Cragen said.

"You found her?"

"Yeah. She was locked inside a trunk in the apartment. EMS took her about ten minutes ago."

"Thanks, Captain. I'll see you back at the house." Elliot said, took off down the stairs and passed the paramedics on their way up.

"We got a call about an officer down."

"Yeah, she's on the roof. Take good care of her." Elliot replied and continued his way down.

The paramedics nodded and made their way up to the roof. They walked over to Jamie who now sitting up and somewhat had her breathing under control. "Hey, what happened here?" one paramedic asked.

"Shotgun blast to the chest. It knocked the wind out of her." Fin explained.

"Okay, let's get this vest off and we'll check her out." They removed the vest and checked her over thoroughly. "Lungs aren't collapsed because she'd be blue by now if they were. She'll be okay, she'll have a hell of a nasty bruise, but we should get her to the hospital for x-rays just to be safe."

"What about the baby?" Jamie asked, wincing at the pain that shot through her chest.

"You're pregnant?" Jamie nodded. "How far along are you?"

"About 10 weeks."

"Okay, let's get you down to the bus and check everything out, okay?"

Jamie nodded and Fin helped her up.

Munch walked over to Nicole when he saw Fin and Jamie leave with the paramedics. "Is she okay?" he asked.

"Physically, yes. But she's worried about the baby. They're taking her to the bus to check her out. Did you ID those guys?" Nicole asked and nodded toward Cragen.

"Your ex-boss Spencer and Sergeant David Matthews."

"Matthews? From I.A.?"

"Yeah, the one and only."

Nicole sighed. "Great. Now the shit is really gonna hit the fan."

TBC...