Disclaimer: Only a bit more time before S3. The property of POI belongs to CBS, JJ, Johnathan, and everyone else that works on it. Thank you SWWoman for being my second set of eyes.
Chapter 15 - The Beginning...
Last night had left Cal in such a disheveled state that he couldn't get a wink of sleep. His head was hurting and he was just outright exhausted. It didn't help things that he was extremely worried about the state of HR affairs at the moment. He was on his way to his godfather's office to see what his next move would be.
He knew that no one had followed any of them last night to the meeting place. It appeared that the brothers took the time to make it out of the way so as not to draw suspicion from the public. It was short, simple, and to the point. They were out on the streets and as promised, they would help with HR's financial needs. He was just happy to finally go home and relax.
Just as he was wrapping things up, he heard the loud voice of someone telling them to put their guns down. For fear of getting outgunned, Cal ordered everyone else to get into the car and take off. Before they left, he noticed the Russians stayed behind. With the firepower he saw backing them up, he was sure that whoever these routine cops were, they would regret interfering.
The lights of the bright morning didn't help to dull the pain as he was closing in on his destination. Cal had arrived at work as usual. He began his day with a bit of paperwork and before he knew it, it was lunchtime. It appeared to be a dull day which he was glad for. Asking the captain for and granted an extended break, he decided to head to Alonzo's office for an update.
He pulled up to the office and got a sense that something was off as he could see the guards were on edge, nervous even. It caused Cal's stomach to turn because at this point, there couldn't be anymore failures, otherwise the organization was finished.
He exited his car and pulled his up his collar to protect him from the cold as he approached the front door and the guard. This was the usual routine as the guard was there to intimate anyone who shouldn't have been sniffing around there. As soon as he was spotted, the big guy moved out of the way and granted him entry.
He walked the length of the hallway, knowing exactly where his Godfather would be. He had only been out of the hospital a few hours and he was already back at work for the mayor. Once he reached the threshold, he knocked on the wood as he saw that Alonzo was on the phone.
Acknowledging his visitor, he waved Cal in and directed him to a chair. He noticed that the conversation on his end was heated, but he couldn't tell who it was. As he waited patiently, Cal draped his left leg over his right.
After a few more minutes, Alonzo finally ended the call with an exasperated breath. Cal saw that Alonzo's face had become a dark shade of red which was a rare sight for him. He knew that if he saw that, something bad really had happened. Once Alonzo calmed down slightly, he began to speak.
"Cal, how are you today?"
He grew nervous as he answered the question. "Well I'm doing pretty good, what about you?"
He watched as Alonzo stood up and began to pace around. "I'm actually not in good spirits right now." He used his hands to speak his point. "It appears that we have lost our last opportunity with the Russians."
Cal's eyes widen in surprise. "W-what? I don't understand. What happened?"
"You fucked up at the meeting Cal. This is all on you. I thought I could trust you to handle things."
"You can Alonzo. The deal went down as planned until some patrol cops happened to stumble on us."
"So what did you do?"
"Well we had to get out of there. We tried to convince the Russians but they stayed behind and began a shootout with their Uzis, I didn't pay too much mind. What's going on?"
"Well apparently they are in custody again for using unlicensed weapons and the evidence is stacking against them. Do you have any idea who had shown up?"
"All I know was that it was at least two cops but it was too dark to see where they were."
"Well I just got a call from them again saying that the deal was off. They even threatened me with retaliation because they think that I orchestrated some sort of sting operation. Do you how insulted I am?"
"Look Alonzo I'm…" he was silenced when his Godfather slammed the table with such force that the entire room felt like it was shaking. Cal wasn't normally intimidated, but that wasn't the case with Alonzo. He was quite pissed off and he was going to show it."
"I want you back here tonight, no excuses Cal. We have to arrange for some method to eliminate these men before they go through with their threat."
"What about reconciling?"
"It's too late for that now. We have blown too many chances with them. We have to find another source and I want you to help me."
He just accepted the facts. He didn't want to incur Alonzo's wrath. "Okay, I'll be back once my shift is over."
"Okay, this conversation is over." He then dismissed Cal and went back to work doing political business.
Cal stood up and just left without any uttering another word. The wheels in his head were turning as he tried to understand how the hell everything could be going so wrong.
Detective Terney was hovering around the water cooler, discussing some entertaining parts about apprehending his latest suspect. Just like Cal, he had thought that his job in all this was done and that HR would be back on its feet in no time. He decided to just enjoy his time until he was needed again.
He laughed with his colleagues as his eyes scanned around the precinct, trying to spot Detective Carter. He had also been planted to keep an eye on her and it seems that her righteous nature was starting to get in the way again. He would have to keep a close eye on her because Cal had let him know about the attempted hit on her life.
He had hung around the place long enough to hear the rumors from the other officers. Carter had developed a reputation for having her own guardian angel. He had brushed it off as a ridiculous fairy tale. Now he wasn't so sure because she was still working on her case.
Not seeing any sign of her, he continued to speak with his buddies.
"Hey Raymond, you heard what happened with Fusco," one of his fellow officers asked.
"No what happened?" He was quite curious as he had seen the man pretty occupied with staying at his desk.
"He managed to make a really big bust last night and you won't believe who it was."
It was then that Terney saw Carter step through the front doors. "Sorry, I'll talk to you later." He then made his way towards her direction. He had done this quite a few times. He would try to take away her attention from HR by asking for her help with another case but she always refused. He thought that he might as well try again since things were going to be alright. There was no point in worrying anymore.
He approached her desk just as she sat down across from her partner.
"Hey Carter, how's it going" he greeted warmly.
She looked up at him with a smile on her face. "Why Detective Terney, surprising to see you around so early. I'm doing quite well, I'm even making progress on my case."
This comment threw him off guard, but he soon made assumptions that she was talking about another case. "Well how about helping me out with this case I'm working on when you have time?"
He watched as she did some typing on her computer not giving him an answer. He waited patiently until he heard something oddly familiar bellowing from the speakers at full blast. He soon recognized it as the conversation he had with Cal while waiting for the brothers at the warehouse.
"Hey Fusco, does this sound familiar to you" she decided to tease, wanting to have him suffer for his involvement in the murder of Bill.
"Well Carter, it sounds like our good friend right here and it sounds like he's meeting the heads of the Russian mob. Weren't those guys released just yesterday and got arrested again like morons today?"
"They sure were." She then stood up as the attention of the entire department was focused at that point of the room. It was so silent that you could hear a pin drop.
It was then that Joss did what she did best…her job. "So would you mind trying to weave a story to explain your whereabouts as some sort of alibi to try to make me believe this isn't you?"
He stood there in silence, stunned.
"Well if this won't loosen your tongue, them I'm sure you'll love this." She took two photos from the folder she had and held them up for everyone to see. "I have been performing an examination of evidence that were acquired by Detective Fusco last night during an arrest" she announced. "I have two photos of a shoe prints that were found at the scene of the murder of Detective Szymanski and also from the arrest of the brothers."
She displayed the photos, enjoying the time that she was having, knowing that she was going to get a small victory.
"It appears that after careful examination, the two prints match to the point that even a serial number was able to be acquired to confirm the identity of the owner." As she looks down, her smile widened ever so slightly. "It appears that our good Detective Terney here is wearing the exact brand of shoes that were described to have made the prints. Now Raymond, would you please show me the bottom of your shoes and confirm that these are not your shoes?"
Noticing his hesitation, Fusco decided to chime in. "C'mon Ray, go ahead and prove her wrong, unless she's not." Fusco couldn't just sit back and enjoy the show.
Detective Terney growled in anger. "You have no idea what you are getting yourself into" he whispered.
"Oh I believe I do. Turn around and put you hands behind your back." She took out her handcuffs. "You are under arrest for conspiracy to commit murder and tamper with evidence in a case."
Unable to touch her with all of the eyes watching them, he did what she said. When the clicking sound of the cuffs being closed was heard, his head dropped down. Joss couldn't help but smile.
As she escorted the Detective to lockup, she could hear the murmurs and whispers of the nearby officers.
"Do you think it's true?"
"Carter's never been wrong before. I would hate to piss her off."
"I always thought something was wrong about that case with Bill. I'm glad someone's was looking into it."
In the back of her mind as she brought him to the cells was a single thought.
One down, two to go.
A/N: It's all coming to an end. It saddens me because I really enjoyed working on this and I hope that you all enjoyed reading it. I want to thank all of you because this story finally broke a hundred reviews. I wish I could hug you all in gratitude. Thanks SWWoman again because you are a great Beta.