He's getting in deeper and deeper, how much longer can he keep his head above water?
Miami. Present day:
"You're a real asshole, you know that?" Calleigh growled as she gave the man a disgusted look.
"Insulting me will not help your friend, Miss Duquesne. I can leave now if you wish."
She huffed and realised that he was right; they needed him to help put the pieces of the puzzle together. "How long did you string him along for?"
"Your friend became quite adept at keeping us regularly updated with information on the organisation whilst at the same time sabotaging his colleagues' investigations. The brothers had asked him to prove his worth to them further by informing them of when the police would be raiding their buildings. Those dimwits at the precinct never did realise he was behind it until it was too late.
Flashback. New York 1994:
The Malucci brothers had left their usual succinct message for him; he opened the door to his apartment to find a sealed envelope on the mat. Opening it he read the message, "The warehouse in Brooklyn, 7pm Thursday."
He screwed the letter up and threw it in the trash knowing that he would have no choice but to attend and act as though he was enjoying what he was doing. He dropped his jacket on the back of the sofa and made his way to the kitchen, grabbing the bottle of scotch he opened it and poured himself a large measure. "This is starting to become a habit," he told himself as he took a deep swig. It didn't stop him from pouring another, it seemed to be the only way he could cope with stresses of his everyday life. Living with one eye over his shoulder was weighing on him heavily; he wasn't sure how much longer he could go on leading a double life.
He sat wearily on his sofa and kicked his shoes off, rubbing at his eyes. He heard the phone ring but ignored it, it was probably Robin but he couldn't face talking to her right now. Every time she looked at him with those trusting eyes he felt sick, knowing that he was lying to her and betraying the people around him. She had told him what a good man he was but the words had no meaning to him, each time he closed his eyes a feeling of self-loathing came over him. He was disgusted with the man he had become, telling himself that he was doing it for the right reasons no longer seemed to placate the voices in his head that taunted him. He closed his eyes and prayed for sleep to take him soon otherwise he would be forced to drink until he passed out, he didn't think he could handle another day at work with a raging hangover.
He looked around to check if he had been followed. When the coast was clear he entered the warehouse through the rear entrance. As he made his way to the office he saw Frankie and Benny with a couple of their most trusted lieutenants. He knocked on the door and waited for the command to come in, he opened the door and stood as four sets of eyes bored in to him. "I got your message, you wanted to see me?"
Frankie gave him a smug smile and beckoned him in to the room with his hand, "Kelly, come and sit down with us. We have some things to discuss."
He looked around the room warily as if sensing he was walking into a trap, he saw the guns in the waistbands of the goons but they made no move towards them. He sat in front of the desk, "You have something you need me to do?"
Frankie leaned forward as he spoke, "We've heard through the grapevine that the NYPD are planning to raid some influential drug dealers in the tri-state area, you know anything about that?"
He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, "We've been getting some heat from the brass but no raids have been confirmed yet, that's why I hadn't said anything to you." The elder brother nodded but Benny regarded him with suspicious eyes.
"You know where our stashes are kept now; I take it we can rely on you to inform of us any scheduled visits from your colleagues?"
"Of course. As soon as I know I'll let you know, was there anything else you needed?"
Frankie leant back in his chair seemingly satisfied with his response, "If you do well there will be a hefty bonus for you, Kelly. I'm sure I don't need to remind you what would happen if you reneged on our agreement…."
He bristled at the unspoken threat but let it pass, losing his temper meant that this would not end well for him. "I'll get it done." With that he stood and left the office.
He returned home and waited for the call that he knew was to come. Sure enough a few hours later his phone rang, "You took your time," he growled as he answered it.
"Watch your tone, Detective Kelly. My associates have your apartment building under surveillance as you know, I take it you had a meeting with the Malucci's?"
"Who else would I be visiting? My social life has definitely taken a turn for the worse since I met you."
The agent let the insult slide, "What have they asked you to do this time?"
"They know that the NYPD are planning raids on some of their properties, they wanted me to give them the heads up when their buildings are going to be searched."
"You know their buildings, I take it."
"Of course I do, and so do you. I've told you everything I can about the organisation, there's only so much they'll let me see at the moment."
"And you're confident you can do this?"
"Of course I'm not, how the hell am I going to get a message to them without being caught?" He pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.
"I'm sure you'll think of something, Detective Kelly." He slammed the phone back down as Collins hung up on him and let out a deep growl under his breath.
Two days later Lieutenant Fancy gathered the detectives of the 15th precinct in the squad room and addressed them as a group, "Listen up people. Today we'll be banging down doors and searching these premises." He handed a piece of paper to each detective in turn which had a list of buildings to be searched. John took his and quickly glanced down the page, his heart sank when he saw the addresses for four Malucci buildings. "We go in hard and fast, hopefully these shmucks won't know what has hit them. Split into teams of four and divide the list between you, take as many uniformed officers as you need." The detectives returned to their desks and spoke between themselves.
John sat back down at his desk and realised that he needed to get word to the brothers, and fast. He looked up at his partner, "Andy, I've got to run outside for a minute. You ok to cover me?"
The older man looked up and gave him a knowing smile, "Woman trouble again?"
He gave Andy a tight smile, "Something like that. You'll cover me?" His partner nodded and gestured to the stairs.
He left the precinct as quickly as he could; walking down the block until he was out of sight of the building he began jogging to a payphone another block away. He dialled and waited for someone to pick up, "Joe's Pizza. You top it, we drop it" a thick Brooklyn accent answered.
"It's Kelly; I need to speak to Frankie. It's urgent."
"Hold the line," was the gruff response.
A few moments later Benny came on the line, "Frankie's busy right now, pig. What have you got for us?"
The taunt angered him but he bit his tongue and concentrated on the task at hand. "I've just had word, the NYPD are doing raids today. Four of yours are on the list." He reeled off the information and waited for Benny's response.
"I can get three of them cleared in under an hour but the fourth won't be so easy. How did they know about Tommy's apartment?"
He closed his eyes and swallowed deeply, it was obvious that the information he had given Collins had somehow found its way back to the NYPD. "No idea, Benny. Probably someone running their mouth off, you want me to look into it and see what I can find?"
"Do that. You need to be on that raid at Tommy's, you'll find a stash of coke in bathroom. Get it out of there before it gets found, got it?"
The blood drained from his face, he had no idea how he would be able to pull it off. Benny sensed the hesitation, "You don't need to be persuaded again do you? I can send someone round to visit that lovely ex-wife of yours if you want."
"No. I'll get it done, don't worry." He slammed the phone back down and trudged back towards the precinct with his heart in his throat.
He went through the motions as he and Andy along with another two detectives began running down the names and addresses that they had been given from the list. The first three had all yielded substantial amounts of heroin and cocaine when they searched them; he had hoped the amount of drugs they found would keep them busy all day but before he knew it he and Andy were on their way to Tommy's apartment. He sat silently in the car on the way over as his partner drove; Andy kept giving him quick glances but said nothing.
He spent the entire drive over to Tommy's trying to think how he was going to pull it off, before he knew it they had arrived. He got out of the car slowly and took a couple of deep breaths, "You ok, John?" his partner asked him as Andy hoicked his pants up for the umpteenth time that day. He nodded his head, closed his eyes and sent a silent prayer before following the other detectives in to the building.
He stood back as Andy thumped on the door and barged through when it opened, sensing he would only get one chance John volunteered to take the bathroom. He made his way as quickly as he could and quietly pushed the door as close to closed as he dared, when the coast was clear he began his search. He looked in all of the obvious places first such as the medicine cabinets but came up empty; he heard the voices of his colleagues getting louder and knew they would soon come to join him. He caught the sight of the toilet out of the corner of his eye; he walked over and lifted the cistern lid. "Bingo," he thought as he eyed a packet of white powder, carefully fishing it out he dried it off with a hand towel before shoving it in his NYPD issue jacket. He hoped the fact that he was wearing a bullet-proof vest underneath the jacket would explain the odd shape of the clothing; he zipped it up and took another couple of deep breaths before returning to the lounge.
He glanced at his colleagues and saw their disappointed expressions, "You find anything?" he asked them, they all shook their heads.
"Guess the intel for this one was bad."
He looked at Andy, "I guess so, let's get back to the station and get started on the paperwork." He didn't wait for the others to agree before he was out of the door and heading back towards the car.
"You ok, John?" The voice of his partner made him jump, he hadn't realised that he'd been caught daydreaming again.
"Uh, sure." He answered as he shifted in his seat; he looked down at his jacket and hoped the bag of coke wasn't bulging out of the top of it. He caught Andy watching him as he adjusted his jacket, "These damn vests, they're uncomfortable," he said as a way of explanation.
"You could have taken it off before we got into the car."
He needed to think of an excuse, and quick. "You can't be too careful, Andy. It wouldn't be the first time a cop has been gunned down outside their precinct." Andy remained silent but nodded and kept his eyes on the road.
It seemed to take forever but finally the other detectives in their group left the locker room one by one, all that was left was his partner who was still looking at him quizzically. "You can take it off now, you know. I'm pretty sure no one's going to shoot us in the changing room."
"Yeah, you're right. Why don't you get started on the reports and I'll meet you out there in a minute. Nature calls, you know?" He looked Andy and hoped he would take the hint and leave him alone, all he needed was a couple of minutes to get rid of his cumbersome load. His partner shook his head in amusement and finally left the room.
His eyes darted around quickly to check the coast was clear before quietly opening his locker, taking one more look he pulled out the bag of drugs and hid it in the back of his locker before taking off the jacket and vest, he slammed the door shut and leant back against it. He closed his eyes and willed the room to stop spinning and his heart to stop racing, he had managed to get rid of the evidence at Tommy's but he realised he had no idea what to do with it now. Keeping it at his apartment wasn't an option, what if Robin found it? How would he explain it to her? He didn't have long to think about it when he heard Lieutenant Fancy's voice booming across the squad room summoning his detectives to attention.