Chapter 8
They got another call…this time to a liquor/cigar store.
The place was supposed be done up to look like a gentleman's club or something. A lot of highly polished, dark varnished wood. Shelf after shelf of whiskey and beer…a wine cellar in the rear of the store…and a walk in humidor.
It was a bad combination…a lot of stuff that burned hot…and burned long. But at least no one was inside. The owner and the two twenty-some year old clerks were all in outside the back door having a smoke break when the first explosion went off in the wine cellar.
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Kelly asked Chief if he could go poke around…and then he called his dad to meet him.
He got down on his hands and knees and checked every outlet…took 'em all apart. And around the out of view ones…he found little bits of melted plastic…and evidence of an epoxy to adhere it to the walls.
As he got to his feet…he fought the urge to heave. Everything Chesnick had said…everything he talked about was right there…right where he said it would be.
"Whaddya say, Pop?" he asked.
Benny picked up the burnt up remains of a cell phone.
"I say somebody knows what they're doing. I say we're lookin' for a pro."
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When Kelly got back to the station…to report what he and his dad had found…Antonio Dawson was already there.
"What's goin' on now?" he asked as he stepped into Boden's office.
"We got a problem…" Antonio started.
"Just one?" Kelly said sarcastically. "That's a relief…"
"That's enough, Severide." Boden said. "You can shut it down right here…"
Severide flopped down into a chair beside Casey.
Detective Dawson sighed. This wasn't an easy thing.
"Chad Markison…the liquor store owner's son…I talked to him today. Guy's just…beside himself. He doesn't understand how this happened. He said they just had an inspection a couple weeks ago."
Antonio looked at them.
"I pulled the department records…there's no record of a recent inspection. The only one the department had on file was the one from before they opened…nine months ago. Then he told me that "Ted Green" from Station 51 was there…he said they were doin' spot inspections of all the businesses in the neighborhood…as a community service."
The three firefighters looked at one another…
"There's no "Ted Green" at this house. Never has been…not since I've been here anyway." Casey said.
"You sure?" Dawson asked. "Maybe on a different shift?"
"Nope…" Chief affirmed. "I can pull the rosters if you like."
Dawson nodded. Then he dropped another name.
"How about a "Darren Chesnick"?"
Casey and Boden shook their heads.
"Nobody by that name either…" Boden said.
Severide gripped the armrests on his chair till his knuckles turned white.
"Who's Darren Chesnick?" Casey asked. "Where'd that name come from?"
"Nicco Suave…" Dawson said with disgust. "Somebody finally did the math and told him how many years he's lookin' at…and he's trying to cut a deal. He gave us this Chesnick guy…and he's willin' to testify as long as we don't charge him with the fires…and accessory to murder."
"I know 'im…" Kelly said quietly.
His voice sounded very far away.
"He's a former firefighter…he never worked here…but I knew 'im from just different events. We always said 'hi…how are you…' and had a beer or two. I ran into him at the gym a while back…we hung out a few times."
"You like him for this?" Dawson asked, leaning forward in his seat.
"Yeah…yeah I do. I saw him a couple weeks ago…and he was runnin' his mouth about the fires…sayin' the cops don't know shit. They don't know what to look for."
He looked at Boden.
"That's why I wanted to go poke around that liquor store, Chief. Everything he said…it was all right there. You can ask my old man."
Dawson stepped out to make a call.
"Chief…the way he did this…these explosives coulda been set weeks ago. God only knows how many places he's hit. We gotta go door to door…check every store in the neighborhood. And someone's gotta check the business owner's homes…this guy's sick."
Antonio came back.
"They ran his address through the DMV…they're sendin' a unit to his house right now."
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But they came back empty.
Detective Dawson came by to break the bad news.
Kelly pulled out his phone and scrolled through his contacts.
"What are you doin'?" Dawson asked.
"Exactly what you think…I'm callin' the sonofabitch." Kelly said as he hit 'send'.
But all he heard was…the number you have reached is no longer in service.
It was official…Chesnick was in the wind.
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But life had to go on. Kelly couldn't just sit and hold his breath till the cops found Chesnick.
He still hadn't shared all this with Alyssa…she'd never close her eyes if he did. Between worrying about him at work…and the memories of what had happened to their home…to their family…he didn't think she could handle it. He couldn't do that to her.
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The twins' class was going to the Chicago History Museum, over in the Lincoln Park area…and as room mom; Lyssa was going as one of the chaperones.
So that meant Kelly and Maggie had a whole day to themselves.
They went to pre-school story hour at the bookstore…and then Kelly ended up buying a ton of new books. All board books…no regular books for the princess to shred.
He carried Maggie in one arm…and the shopping bag in the other.
Alyssa was gonna kill him…they hadn't even gotten all the bills from Christmas yet…and he'd just dropped another chunk of change.
Oh well…what was it his Grandpa Kelly used to say?
You can't take it with you…that's why you never see a U-Haul following a hearse.
"Was that fun, Baby Girl?" he asked. "Did you like that?"
And Maggie just giggled and snuggled her head against his shoulder.
Kelly laughed as he turned to kiss her little head.
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The bells over the door rang when he walked into the diner.
"Look who's here!" Ingrid Mills exclaimed when she saw Maggie.
She came over and took the baby from Kelly and sat her on the counter where she began to peel off the pink and purple hat, scarf, and mittens.
Mills came from the grill…and he snatched Maggie as soon as his mom had the little girl's coat off.
"Who came to see Uncle Pete?" he asked as he held her up over his head. "Are you hungry? What am I gonna make for lunch?"
"Cheesy!" Maggie cried…clapping her hands. "Maggie Cheesy!"
Mills laughed and hugged her tight.
"Mac 'n cheese…I shoulda known…" he chuckled. "Comin' right up!"
Maggie loved Uncle Pete's Mac 'n cheese…the same way Andy and Jesse loved Uncle Pete's grilled cheese sandwiches.
He handed Maggie back to Kelly…and they took their usual spot at the counter.
Maggie loved to sit at the counter…but she had to sit in Kelly's lap to do it.
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While they waited for Mills to make his special Mac 'n cheese…the way he did just for Maggie…with the bits of crispy turkey bacon crumbled in…and a couple drops of barbeque sauce in the sauce…they played one of Maggie's favorite games.
Kelly had a couple plain white place mats in front on him…and a couple boxes of those little crayons.
He printed M-A-G-G-I-E in the center.
"Okay…" he asked. "Who loves Maggie?"
And he took the red crayon and he printed D-A-D-D-Y in block letters.
"What does that say, Baby Girl?" he asked.
"Daddy!" Maggie said happily as she clapped her hands again.
She could recognize quite a few words on sight already…and she wasn't even two.
Probably came from all that reading…
Kelly wrote M-O-M-M-Y in purple crayon…
"Mommy!" Maggie said as she pointed to the name.
And they went on and on…Andy…Jesse…Grandpa…Uncle Matt…Aunt Leslie…everybody they knew.
Every time Kelly wrote another name, Maggie laughed and clapped her hands…and Kelly couldn't help but smile.
Mills came out of the kitchen with a plate. He had a scoopful of Mac 'n cheese…and some cut up fruit and he set it on the counter just out of Maggie's reach so it could cool a bit before she dug in.
Kelly tucked a paper napkin in the front of Maggie's shirt. He'd forgotten to grab the diaper bag out of the car…Alyssa surely had a bib in there. She had everything else.
While Maggie ate…Kelly serupticiously snatched a grape from her plate and popped it in his mouth. Then he looked down at the papers with all the names in different colors…
There were so many…so many people who loved his kids…but when you looked at it all at once like that, it was a bit overwhelming. And he thought again…how is life had been not even a dozen years ago…he had been on his own. He had friends…but he never had any illusions that they'd all move on someday…he didn't really have a relationship with his dad…he hadn't seen his Aunt Kathy in years…his cousins…
He thought about what Vargas has said…just a few weeks back.
When he had met Alyssa it changed everyone's life. And it was true. Without even knowing it, she'd made Station 51 a tighter family than ever before. She'd brought his biological family back together in his life. And she'd given him this whole new, big, sometimes crazy, family in her brothers…nieces…nephews.
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"Zert?" Maggie asked.
Kelly snapped out of his daydream.
"What do you want, Baby Girl?"
"Zert?" she asked again.
She pointed to her plate.
"A'gone!"
Her plate was clean…except for a little crumble of bacon…which she snatched and stuffed into her mouth.
"A'gone!" she said again.
Kelly laughed. She was just so damn cute…
"Hey, Mills…whaddya got for a member of the 'clean plate club'?"
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Mills went back to the kitchen…and a few minutes later he came out with a tiny Brownie Sundae…complete with a cherry on top, and a little pink paper umbrella.
Maggie squealed and clapped her hands…this was a big girl treat!
She took the spoon Uncle Pete held out to her…and attacked.
"Are you gonna eat that all by yourself?" Kelly asked. "How 'bout sharin' with Daddy?"
Maggie looked up over her shoulder at Kelly…and he bit the insides of his cheeks to keep from laughing at the sight of her…with ice cream all over her chin.
It looked like she had a little white goatee.
She looked like she was seriously contemplating his request…then she dug the spoon into the mush that was once her sundae… Then she tried to get the heaping bite into Kelly's mouth.
And she missed…then she missed again. She kept trying…but all she was really doing was smearing ice cream and whipped cream and chocolate sauce all over his face.
Mills couldn't contain himself…and when Kelly looked over at his nearly hysterical teammate…he realized that Mills had taped the whole thing on his phone.
He reached for a couple of napkins and tried to clean himself off.
"Mills…if that video ends up on YouTube…or in any way, shape, or form shows up at the firehouse…I swear to God, you'll never see another piece of my wife's chocolate cherry nut bread for as long as you live."
