Chapter 5
People stepped aside as the mountain of a man entered Joe's…the coffee shop about half a block from Helping Hands. It was a new place…one of dozens in the neighborhood…and it was already popular with the college kids from DePaul and young, working twenty-somethings. They had live music on the weekends, poetry readings, hosted book discussions…and made a damn good cup of coffee.
Jessica…the part time manager…a twenty-one year old girl with blonde hair and grey eyes looked up at the man with the bulging muscles and the shaven head.
"May I help you?" she asked.
The man "smiled" down at her. But it wasn't a friendly, sincere smile. This was forced, dark…dangerous.
"I'm Ted Green…" he said.
He pulled a badge out of his pocket.
"I'm a firefighter over at Station 51…just down Irving Park?"
The girl nodded…not quite sure where this was going.
"You know there's been a bunch of fires in the past few months…" "Green" continued.
Again, the girl nodded.
"We're goin' around to the local businesses…doin' spot inspections…just as a community service. I'm here to check your outlets, your circuits…your alarm…fire exits…again, just as a precaution."
That made sense…
"Of course…if you just follow me…" she said.
"That's not necessary…I can find my way around." "Green" said.
"But the owner said…"
"Green" just gave the girl a hard, cold look.
"It'll go much faster if you just let me take care of business, Miss."
Less than an hour later, "Green" walked out of the coffee shop, having completed his "inspection" and assuring the young manager that he'd found nothing to be concerned about.
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"Engine 51…Truck 81…Ambulance 61…Squad 3…"
The team ran for the rigs and was rolling out the door less than a minute later.
"Hey, Lieutenant?" Clark said as he hit the siren. "That's not your wife's store, is it?"
"No…but it's not far…" Severide answered. "Just a few doors down."
As they raced to the scene, Kelly had a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. He'd bet his bottom dollar this fire was connected to all the others…but there was one big difference. The other fires had been late at night, when nobody…or very few people…were around.
But this was nine o'clock on a Friday night. Most of the little shops up and down the block were still open or just about to close.
Apparently the person…or persons responsible were looking to up their game.
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It was worse than he thought.
Severide jumped down off the rig to see the coffee shop in flames.
It was absolute chaos…trying to get the civilians out of the way…trying to see what needed to be done first. There were a couple dozen people, many injured…and Kelly could see people still inside.
"Guys!" he called to his team, "Gear up! Let's move!"
He pulled his hood and mask on in record time and he ran for the building.
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There were a few victims just stumbling through the smoke…and he steered them out the door.
"Mills…with me!" he called out over the radio. "We'll take the right! You guys go left!"
With Mills now right behind him he skirted the right hand side of the store working his way back.
He tried to remember the layout of the place…he'd been in there once before…when he stopped in to get Alyssa coffee and a croissant while she was working in the thrift shop.
Through the flames he could make out a victim lying on the floor…he couldn't tell if it was a him or a her…and a young girl bent over the body, trying to get whoever it was on their feet.
Severide grabbed the girl by the shoulders and pulled her to her feet. He passed her off to Mills and he grabbed the other one.
It was a girl…young…blonde…she couldn't be more than twenty.
They delivered the injured to Shay and Dawson, who were running around, trying to be everywhere at once.
As he ran back in, Severide could hear the sirens of the second-in companies getting closer and closer.
They couldn't get there fast enough…
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With all the excitement, no one noticed the hulk of a man watching from across the street. He was a few doors down from the action, mostly concealed in an alley way along the side of a building. And if they had noticed him...they'd see he had a satisfied expression on his face.
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Kelly was late getting home Friday morning.
The after-action report after the fire at Joe's…he'd been up all night working on it. It was such a mess.
There had been close to forty-five people in the shop when the wall of coffee machines suddenly exploded. Three people working right there had been not only blasted…but showered in gallons of hot liquid. One had died instantly…another on the way to the hospital…and the third was barely hanging on.
There had been a musician on the stage…and young college guy playing an acoustic set. He had tried to save the people around him and been severely burned in the process.
And blonde the girl Kelly had saved…she was in critical condition.
There had been a secondary blaze in the back…cutting off the rear exit…so the kitchen staff had been trapped. One man had tried to put out the flames with a fire extinguisher in an effort to clear a path to the back door…but it had been way too much to handle by himself. Thank God they had been able to get them all out.
Trying to keep it all straight…who did what…everything had been running together in Severide's mind as he reported Squad 3's part in the efforts.
The place was a total loss.
And Kelly still had that bad feeling…
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The boys had a day off of school…and Monday was Columbus Day…so four day weekend.
And every kid in the neighborhood, it seemed, was over at the Severide's.
Joey and Emma Lynn's three were there…along with Mia and Micah from down the block. Connor was over playing with the twins…it was a mad house.
So much for a quiet, relaxing day.
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Alyssa was at the sink rinsing the pile of dishes that came from feeding nine kids breakfast.
She turned when she heard the door and cast a smile at her husband before she turned back to her job.
Kelly crossed the room in only a few strides and put his arms around her tiny frame. He pressed against her…and left a little trail of kisses along the side of her neck.
She sighed and leaned back against him. And he smiled to himself.
"You okay, Babe?" he asked.
"Just wildly outnumbered…" she answered. "You know how you said you wanted your own baseball team?"
"Or my own football team…" he said with a grin. "I'm not fussy about which."
Alyssa laughed weakly.
"Well you can forget it, Severide…"
"Or we could just practice…" he told her. "I'm always up for that."
She turned off the water and reached for a towel to dry her hands.
Then she turned to Kelly and slipped her arms up around his neck. And he leaned down to give her a proper kiss…
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Once they broke apart for some much needed air she had a chance to study his face. She looked deep into his tired eyes.
"Rough night?" she asked.
"I don't think "rough" even begins to cover it…" he said with a hint of a sigh.
There was something more…she knew when he was holding something back.
"Tell me…" she said. "Where?"
"The coffee shop down the block from the store. Nine o'clock last night. There were almost fifty people in there. Three fatalities already…and there's prob'ly gonna be more. I lost track 'a how many ambulances there were."
"Was Jessica there?" Alyssa asked.
She had gotten to know the girl well over the past year or so…she was a real sweetheart…working to put herself through school. She came into the thrift shop on a fairly regular basis…she bought clothes…and little things for her apartment…and she always took a few minutes to talk…and to play with Maggie if Alyssa had the baby with her.
"Which one is she?"
Kelly couldn't remember if he'd ever met her.
"She's pretty little…a little bigger than me, maybe. And she's got blonde hair."
Kelly swallowed hard.
The girl he had pulled out…the one the other girl had been trying to wake…
"I think she was, Babe." He said softly. "I pulled a little girl with blonde hair out…but she was in bad shape."
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Lyssa moved her arms from around his neck to hug him around the waist. She tried to get as close to him as she could. And he just wanted to wrap his arms around her…and protect her from everything that was going on out there…
"It's that Nicco guy, isn't it." She said softly. "It's gotta be."
She had spent hours pouring over mug books Antonio brought down to the firehouse. Kelly didn't want them in the house where the twins might get into them. It would be just like the boys to be curious…
"We don't know…but I'd put my money on him…"
"They've gotta get him…" she said…a hard edge creeping into her voice. "They've gotta get him."
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They were an odd pair…the two men sitting in the back corner booth in a dive bar on the west side.
The short, barrel chested, dark haired guy looked so out of place in his expensive clothes and his thick gold chain with a cross hanging down.
But then again…so did the tall, jacked up guy with the shaved head. A cross between Mr. Clean and the Incredible Hulk.
They were talking in hushed tones…but there was no mistaking the anger each had for the other. That was obvious even from ten yards away.
"What the hell were you thinkin'?" Shorty hissed…all traces of his "Bronx" accent gone with the wind.
"Nicco Suave" was just for show. Now Nick Salisino, the boy who grew up on Austin and Belmont, attended St. Ferdinand's school, was sweatin' bullets as he confronted "Ted Green" from Station 51...
"All those people in there! My God…there's people dead now…there's people in the hospital…"
The giant on the other side of the booth leaned forward on the elbows…his enormous hands clenched into tight fists…the veins in his thick neck bulging.
"We need to start showin' people we mean business! We need to let these fuckin' condescending bureaucrats and stuck-up assholes they can't disrespect us!"
"But we never said anything about killin' innocent people!"
"There are no innocent people! They think they got all the power…they can look down on people…decide the rest of your fuckin' life for you! You're a fuckin' candy ass! You ain't got the balls you were born with!"
With that he shoved the table forward…pinning Nick and causing him to gasp as the table rammed his solar plexus…got up and stalked out of the bar.
And so ended Nicco/Nick's brief, tenuous…and now deadly business association with Darren Chesnick.
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Antonio Dawson strode up to the firehouse, looking like the weight of the world was resting on his shoulders.
The fire at Joe's…that was catapulting his investigation into a whole different stratosphere. There was no doubt it was tied to the other fires. Arson had found charred bits of cell phones in four different locations throughout the structure. They were surmising these were used to remotely detonate small, strategically placed explosions…explosions that singly wouldn't have done more than create a small to medium sized blaze…but the combined effect was nothing short of devastating.
The coffee house was a total loss…and the storefronts on either side had sustained heavy damage as well. But the loss of life in this case…the body count was up to five…and there were still a dozen victims in serious to critical condition.
They had to catch a break…and they had to catch one fast.
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Severide saw the detective pull up in front of the station and went out to meet him.
"Hey…" he said.
"Hey…" Antonio relied.
"Did ya find somethin'?"
There was no point in beating around the bush…they both knew why Dawson was there.
Antonio sighed.
He hadn't slept in two days…hadn't showered…barely ate.
"Can I get a cup of coffee?" he asked.
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Kelly led Antonio into the common room…and the entire team stopped whatever they were doing to hear what he had to say.
Gabriella set a cup of coffee down in front of her big brother…and they all waited on pins and needles while he took a sip.
Momentarily fortified…he looked into the expectant faces of his sister and all her colleagues.
"We picked up "Nicco Suave" last night…" he began.
"Where?" Boden's voice rumbled across the room as he strode toward the group.
"You'll never believe it…" Antonio said. "We picked him up goin' into the church. Apparently he had somethin' he needed to confess."
Kelly's hand clenched into a tight fist.
What he wouldn't give to be the one doling out the penance in this case. The guy'd be on his knees…no doubt about that…but there wouldn't be any 'Hail Mary's' or Acts of Contrition involved.
One glance around the room told him he wasn't alone in his feelings.
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Antonio continued what he had come to say.
"Guy's real name is Nicholas Salisino…he's twenty-six…he flunked outta two high schools…and he's got an affinity for Mafia movies. He sees himself as some kinda modern day Michael Corleone."
"So you got him?" Kelly asked. "It's over?"
Antonio shook his head.
"It's not him." He said.
"Whaddya mean 'it's not him'?" Cruz asked.
"I mean it's not him." Antonio repeated. "The guy eventually copped to the extortion…but this punk doesn't have the IQ points to tie his own shoes…forget pulling off somethin' like this."
"So he's workin' with someone…" Casey said.
Antonio nodded.
"Yeah…that's my take on it." He said. "But I questioned this punk for seven hours…and I couldn't get a name outta him."
He looked at the men and women gathered around him.
"We pulled in a couple of his buddies too…" he went on. "And they're all one stupider than the other. It was like "Beavis and Butthead" meets "Dumb and Dumber". There's no way any 'a these guys are behind the actual fires themselves."
He paused…dreading the next words he was about to say.
"I think we may be lookin' for a firefighter."
