Chapter 3
"I was talking to Jessica yesterday." Kathy said to Alyssa.
Jessica was the manager of the coffee shop that had recently opened down the block from the thrift store.
The family was sitting down to brunch on Sunday after church. With everybody living so close this was something they did every week now. Sometimes they got together at Alyssa and Kelly's, sometimes Nicky and Kathy's…everybody brought something…and they just enjoyed the day.
"She was telling me about this creep who came in the other day…" Kathy went on. "He called himself…get this…Nicco Suave! Can you believe that?"
"So aside from the name…what's wrong with the guy?" Joey asked.
"Apparently he thought he was some kind of wise guy…he was talking about for a reasonable monthly fee his neighborhood watch committee would guarantee nothing bad happened to her store."
"Are you serious?" Nicky asked. "That's extortion…"
"She said laughed at the guy." Kathy said. "She said told him to get out…"
"He was in our store about a month or so ago." Lyssa said.
"What?" Kelly asked. "You never told me that."
Alyssa sighed.
"Nobody could possibly take this guy seriously, Honey." She said. "He was…just absolutely ridiculous…the way he dressed. The leather…the gold chains…his hair all greasy. Oh…and my God…the cologne! I almost gagged!"
Joey was snickering…
"And it gets better…" Alyssa said. "The minute the guy opened his mouth, I thought I'd die laughing…it was like he was doing this New York Italian thing…he sounded like Joe Pesci in "My Cousin Vinny"!"
Her brothers just rolled their eyes…
"Sounds like somebody we know…" Kathy said.
"Sounds like a few somebodies we know…" Alyssa added in a teasing voice.
" I don't know what you're talkin' about." Joey cut in.
"Neither do I…" Nicky added.
All the Boungiovanni brothers had prob'ly done the "Wise Guy" routine at one point or another when they were young…Joey in particular…he had the looks to pull it off.
Not that any of them would ever admit to it now…
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Kelly was looking around the table…they were all making jokes…and here was some idiot trying to shake down businesses for protection money.
And he'd gone into Alyssa's store…this guy had talked to his wife.
"So what happened?" he asked.
He just couldn't appreciate the humor right at the moment.
Alyssa rolled her eyes.
"He hinted that there had been some trouble…the fires in the neighborhood…" she told him. "I just stared him down…threw in a few of the dozen or so Italian words I know…played that card with him. He was put off his game, that's for sure…and then he just tucked his tail between his legs and left."
Her brothers snickered again. Back in the day…they'd seen their baby sister make a fool out of more than one guy.
"You shoulda told him to leave the gun and take the cannolis." Joey chuckled.
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Two days later…Alyssa came home with their new house guest.
It had taken some convincing…but Matt had agreed to come stay with Kelly and Alyssa and the kids for a couple weeks.
There really wasn't any other option…besides the concussion, Casey had cracked a couple ribs…and his entire back was black and blue.
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They had to stop at his place to pick up some things…
"I can do that…" Matt told Alyssa as he watched her struggling with his duffle bag.
The thing was almost as big as she was.
"I doubt that sincerely…" she told him.
She led him into the guest room right off the dining room.
"Just tell me where you want everything…" she said as she hauled the bag up onto the bed.
"I'll do it…" Casey said as he reached for the bag, but then he was stopped short by a stab of pain in his ribs.
"Ahhhh!"
Alyssa looked at him seriously…and she gently laid one hand on his shoulder.
This was one way he and Kelly were so very much alike.
They were both stubborn as hell…
"Matt…will you just rest…please? Let us take of you, okay?"
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When Kelly got home in the morning he found Casey all settled in…
He walked into the kitchen to find the whole family there.
The boys jumped up from their chairs and came running…
"Ah…ah!" Kelly warned them right before they could paste him.
The twins skidded to a half right before the moment of impact.
It was so hard to remember sometimes…
Alyssa came to hug him.
As he wrapped her tiny frame in his arms, he breathed a sigh of relief…just glad to be home.
There had been another fire last night.
That whole section of town was starting to look like the pictures in the history books…the ones taken after the Great Fire…where the city was nothing more than a burnt out shell of itself.
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"So how are things down at the office?" Casey asked as the family sat down to dinner.
"Dad doesn't go to an office…" Andy said.
Casey chuckled…then winced as he put his hand to his ribs.
"I'm just teasin', Buddy…"
But Kelly just shook his head. He didn't want to talk in front of the kids.
"Let's just say we earned our pay last night…"
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There was an awkward moment of silence…until Casey remembered something he meant to tell Kelly.
"Hey…you'll never guess who else got discharged yesterday…" he said. "That guy from the warehouse…Daniel. He got moved over to RIC."
RIC…the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. Where Daniel could receive the most intensive therapy…to prepare him for his new life in a wheelchair.
But at least the guy was alive…at least he had a chance to be a father to his kid.
"How's he doin"?" Kelly asked.
He and Matt had worked for over three hours to pull the young man from the rubble of a boiler explosion. They had talked to him in order to keep him calm…to keep him conscious…and they'd heard the guy's life story. How he was from a small town in southern Illinois where his family was a big deal…how he met his girlfriend at school…and how his parents didn't approve. But they'd stayed together despite all the pressure from his father to enter the family business…and find a suitable wife.
When they learned they were expecting, they decided to make a clean break. They didn't want to raise their baby amongst all the animosity…and they decided to come to the big city. It was Daniel's third day on the job…with a company that they had since learned had OSHA violations out the whazoo.
Kelly could smell a class action lawsuit coming…
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They fell into a comfortable pattern at home, but at the firehouse it was anything but.
One afternoon the arson detectives came down to Station 51 to share what they had discovered…and it wasn't much.
There had been nine fires in small, new businesses in the last two and a half months. All the targets were within a five mile radius. In three cases they had found evidence suggesting some kind of time delayed, remotely detonated device had been used. One of those was the Italian restaurant that had nearly crippled Station 51 in terms of manpower.
Chief Boden asked Kelly to sit in as well as Lieutenant Spellman, who was Casey's relief while he was out on medical furlough.
Antonio Dawson was there…he was on loan from Vice to Major Case.
He shook Severide's hand and the men sat down to talk business.
"So we got a lotta common threads…problem is they're pretty loose ones" Antonio started. "The most promisin' lead is that a few of the business owners mentioned a weird occurrence in the weeks leadin' up to the fires. Apparently there's some punk kid who calls himself "Nicco Suave"…he came in to talk to them about his "neighborhood watch program"…for a reasonable monthly fee he'd guarantee nothin' bad was gonna happen to their business…"
"Protection racket…" Chief summed it up.
Antonio nodded.
"Yeah…he's trying to resurrect an old dinosaur."
"He talked to Alyssa…" Kelly said suddenly. "He was in her store a couple months ago."
That got Antonio's interest in a hurry.
"How do you know it's the same guy?" he asked.
"She talked about it a couple weeks ago…she was talkin' to her sister-in-law…they said the name."
"And what happened? I mean with Alyssa?"
Kelly was nervous now. Now he wondered if he'd get a call out to his own wife's store some night."
"She thought it was a joke…she said she stared the guy down…embarrassed him, I guess…she and her family got a big laugh outta it."
Antonio shook his head. Alyssa may have unknowingly made herself a target for a serial arsonist.
"I'd like to talk to her…get the details…maybe sit her down with some mug books. "Nicco Suave" can't be this punk's real name."
"Kelly…is she home now?" Boden asked.
"Yeah…she's got Maggie and Ainsley today…and Casey's there…"
Boden sat forward at his desk, balancing on his elbows…he had a dark expression on his face and Kelly could practically see the storm clouds gathering in his eyes.
"I want you…" he said, his deep bass rumbling like thunder. "I want you to take Detective Dawson over to your place to talk to Alyssa right now. I want a picture of this punk…I want a name…and I want this piece of garbage off the streets."
Kelly met Boden's stare…and he knew Chief wanted the person responsible for putting four of his men in the hospital hanging from the highest tree.
What was that line? They put one of yours in the hospital…you put one of theirs in the morgue?
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"Lyssa?" Kelly called out as he walked in the back door.
He led Antonio Dawson through the playroom and into the kitchen.
Alyssa was just coming downstairs from putting the girls down for their nap. She quickened her steps when she heard her husband's voice
The only time he ever came home in the middle of a shift was when he was hurt. The worry in her eyes was unmistakable as she crossed the room and Kelly opened his arms to her. She stepped into his strong embrace and he hugged her tight to show her he was okay.
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"What's wrong?" she asked. "What are you doin' home?"
Kelly stepped to one side and that's when Alyssa saw he wasn't alone.
"I don't know if you ever met Antonio Dawson…Gabby's brother."
Then he introduced Antonio to his wife.
Alyssa shook the hand the detective held out to her…she was thoroughly confused.
Casey had made his way from the living room. He held out his hand.
"Antonio…long time no see."
"Hey, Matt." Dawson said. "How're you doin'?"
Casey shrugged.
"Comin' along…it's slow."
Then Kelly explained the reason for the visit.
"Lyssa…Antonio's workin' the arson cases…and he needs to talk to you about that Nicco guy that came into the store…"
He put his arm around her and guided her out to the dining room table.
"But that was months ago…" Alyssa said as she sat down.
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Once they were all together Antonio brought Alyssa and Casey up to date on the investigation.
"So…a couple different people said this wanna-be Tony Soprano came in lookin' to sign 'em up for protection…they all told him to go to hell…and…"
"Their business goes up in flames…" Casey finished for him.
"Exactly…" Antonio said with an affirmative nod. "So anything you got…"
Alyssa's eyes went wide as she realized how close she might have come to being one of the victims herself.
Why had this guy left her and her store alone?
Kelly watched the expression on her face…and he moved closer to his wife and put his arm around her reassuringly.
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"Well…" Alyssa began. "Like I said…it was a couple months ago. I was alone in the store and I had Maggie with me. These three guys walked in…they had really expensive leather jackets…gold chains…they looked Italian…all of them. And they looked like they belonged in a club rather than a resale shop."
"Did you get a name?" Antonio asked.
Alyssa nodded slowly.
"The one who came up to the counter said his name was Nicco. He was talkin' like he was from New York…or at least he was trying to ."
"You didn't get any kind of last name?"
Alyssa shook her head and Antonio looked defeated for a moment.
It was obviously the same guy. The descriptions were two similar not to be. But the name "Nicco Suave"…first of all it was too ridiculous to be real…second of all…the cops had already run it…and came up empty.
"So what happened?"
Antonio figured he might as well get the rest of the story.
"He asked if I had heard about the fires they'd had around the neighborhood…" she said. "And I said I had…and that my husband's a firefighter. That kinda knocked him down a peg."
Kelly tightened his hold on her…and with his free hand he reached out and covered Alyssa's hands…which were folded in front of her. He gently rubbed the pad of his thumb across the back of her hand…just like she'd done with him God only knows how many thousand times.
She took a deep breath and went on with the story.
"So he said that I seemed nice and he wouldn't want me to have any trouble…and I told him the store was affiliated with the Church and people in this neighborhood still have a lot of respect for the Church. Then I dropped a few Italian words and phrases into the conversation…basically to let him know I saw right through the Godfather act…and he backed down and left."
"That's it?" Antonio asked.
"That's it…" Alyssa replied. "He looked kinda embarrassed…but he didn't make a scene or anything."
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Not much to go on…but Antonio was 1000% convinced it was the same guy.
"Would you be willing to look through some mug books? We need a name on this guy. He's goin' around callin' himself "Nicco Suave"."
"He can actually say that with a straight face?" Casey asked.
"Hard to believe, right?" Antonio said. "So…can you come down to the precinct? Or we could meet at the firehouse?"
"Sure…" Alyssa said quietly.
"Let's do it down at Station 51." Kelly said.
He could see this was already wearing on Alyssa…and he wanted to be there.
