October 5, 1997
12:40 a.m.
West Side Manhattan
"We are in position," Elisa heard Goliath say through her earpiece.
She glanced up at a dark rooftop across the street from where she and her partner were parked. She could make out shadows that could be the clan, but nothing more. Thick clouds blotted out the waxing moon and stars, making the night darker than it was. Thunder rumbled overhead, threatening to rain.
After receiving a much needed break in their case from Coldstone and Coldfire, who had sent her a video recording of the meeting at the warehouse earlier that day, Elisa and Matt were sitting in her car a little ways up the street, quietly watching the same warehouse and waiting. She had identified several of the men in the recording as members of Brod's gang, including Jack Dane himself. All the evidence reinforced their theory that the gang was planning on something that involved methamphetamine, but what exactly remained to be discovered. Tonight, they hoped to uncover the extent of their scheme and weaken Brod's foothold in Manhattan, or better yet, stop him all together.
A sudden flash of lightning in the distance briefly gave shape to the silhouetted clan crouching along the adjacent roofline. Elisa felt a jolt of anticipatory excitement shoot down her spine. "The cavalry's here," she informed Matt. Though Goliath had already confirmed as much on the comm, seeing them in the flesh made it real.
She glanced at her watch, then gently touched her fingertips to her earpiece. "We haven't seen any movement yet, but stay ready. They said 1:00 a.m., so it's nearly go-time."
"Roger," Brooklyn piped up.
Time stretched as they waited to see how punctual mobsters were. The gargoyles held their position stoically, cloaked in the abundance of shadows to avoid detection. Stakeouts were an extreme test of patience, but having a projected arrival time in this case made the wait bearable. After twenty minutes finally passed, they watched as two cars pulled into the warehouse lot.
"Something's happening," Elisa said through her comm as several men exited the vehicles, unlocked the padlock on the gate, and slid it open before entering the warehouse.
"Yes, one of the men appears to be Jack Dane himself," Goliath replied.
Thank goodness for gargoyle night vision, Elisa thought.
Elisa and Matt sat glued to the edges of their seats as they stared out the front window, passing a pair of binoculars between them, waiting for more to happen.
"Come on, you bastards," she whispered under her breath. "Give me something to put you away for good."
Elisa could feel her anxiety growing in the tense silence. She glanced surreptitiously at her partner as he took another turn staring through the long-distance lenses. She noticed he seemed calm and unruffled, which annoyed her, though she tried hard not to let it show. In contrast, she could feel her own breathing growing faster and her heart beginning to race.
Get it together, Maza, she silently commanded. This isn't you.
Determined to get a handle on things before they got away from her, she reminded herself of the steps she'd learned a year ago when she had her first panic attack. As discreetly as she could, she made a conscious effort to slow her breathing. She also glanced about for something nearby to focus on, something to ground herself. Her eyes settled on her hands as she realized she must have subconsciously sought out the steering wheel in her anxiousness and closed her fingers around it. She focused her vision on her knuckles, watching them grow pale as her grip tightened.
Just as her heart rate started to settle, the delivery bay doors on the warehouse were thrust open and light filtered out. An unmarked, white delivery van pulled down the access drive before peeling off through the open gate and out onto the empty street.
"They're on the move," Elisa said into the comm.
"We have eyes on the van," Goliath replied.
The van merged with what little traffic there was that time of night, and Elisa turned over her car's engine.
"Do we follow or intercept?" Matt asked.
"Follow for now," Elisa instructed as she pulled out after them.
Above on the roof, Goliath, Lexington, Nashville, Brooklyn, and Katana lay in wait.
"I'll follow the van. Stay and keep an eye on the warehouse," Goliath ordered.
"Why aren't we going with you?" Lexington piped up.
"Because surveillance is just as important as chasing down the bad guys, dummy," Gnash snarked.
"Yamete! Be respectful, Nashville," Katana scolded, and Gnash cringed. Anytime his mother used his full name, he knew he was in trouble.
"I need you four to keep an eye on the warehouse in case there is more activity," Goliath explained. "I am going to tail Elisa and Matt in case they need any assistance. Contact me if you see anything." Then he leapt off the building, following after Elisa and the unmarked van.
Traffic was light this time of night. Although Elisa did her best to hang back and avoid being detected, the van suddenly sped up.
"We should have taken mycar," Matt said in an I-told-you-so kind of way as Elisa pressed down on the gas pedal.
Elisa ignored his comment because she knew he was right. "Hit the light," she grumbled.
Matt rolled down the passenger side window, stuck the red magnetic light on the roof, then flipped the switch. The instant illumination and piercing wail of the siren sliced through the night. The van sped up even more.
"Here we go," Elisa said. "Call it in."
Matt grabbed the radio and spoke to dispatch.
"Chase in progress of a van on West Fourteenth Street." Then he quickly rattled off the license plate number.
They heard Morgan respond. He and Travanti were nearby and would help intercept.
They chased the van down for several blocks. Luckily, with such little traffic this time of night, they were able to dodge and weave through cars, easily avoiding them as they followed the moving van. They could see the lights from Morgan and Travanti's patrol car several streets ahead, but still a ways out. The driver likely realized they were going to be intercepted and suddenly took a hard right down an alley. Elisa had to make a quick correction to follow, but the street ended in a dead end, and though the driver of the van slammed on the brakes, they weren't quick enough to avoid hitting a wall. The van lurched to a sudden stop as it struck the brick facade, and the hood crumpled like an accordion. Elisa swerved and came to an abrupt halt, parking her car behind the van.
She and Matt got out of her car, swinging the doors open and crouching down behind them for cover, hands on their service weapons.
"This is the police! Get out of the vehicle!" Matt shouted.
The van's engine popped and clanked, and the punctured radiator hissed as coolant dripped out onto the ground beneath, but no one inside the van moved or responded.
"Shit," Elisa muttered under her breath as several seconds of silence ticked by without any signs of cooperation. She knew the stats. If they had to get any closer to the vehicle, the odds of getting shot skyrocketed if the occupants were also carrying guns on them.
As if reading her thoughts, a dark shape swooped overhead, momentarily casting a shadow over her now that a few faint moonbeams had broken through the looming storm clouds.
Arching his wings back, Goliath dropped in from above and landed hard on top of the van, blowing out the suspension with a creak and a loud groan. The whole body of the vehicle instantly dropped a foot from the violence of the impact, the roof threatening to cave in.
Goliath held perfectly still where he landed, his ears twitching slightly as he listened. After a moment's silence, he abruptly reached down, thrust a fist through the glass window on the driver's side, unceremoniously extracted the driver who'd been huddled behind the wheel, and held him aloft. Arms flailing, the man screamed in terror.
"He is alone," Goliath informed Elisa and Matt.
But that didn't seem right. Why would he be alone?
Elisa approached Goliath, the trembling driver swaying precariously from the massive gargoyles's grasp. He was dressed all in black, but he didn't look like any of Brod's known associates or the guys they'd seen in the surveillance footage that Coldstone had sent her.
"You can put him down now," Elisa instructed Goliath.
He did as she asked and set the man down onto his feet. Elisa pinned his arms and cuffed them behind his back while Matt cautiously walked around to the back of the van.
"You got a name, pal?" Elisa asked the van driver as she patted him down, looking for weapons.
"M-Mark," he said.
"What do you have in the van?" she pressed.
"N-nothing," he said, shaking.
Elisa's suspicions flared, and her optimism evaporated. She glanced at Matt who threw open the back door, and quickly swept the back of the van, before lowering his gun in shock.
"It's empty," he said.
"What?" Elisa replied, confused.
"It's empty," Matt repeated, looking past the door toward her.
"Fuck!" Elisa growled. Then she turned on the driver.
"What are you doing with an empty van, Mark?"
"I don't know!" he replied, frightened. "I was just paid to drive."
"Why didn't you pull over immediately?"
"I panicked!"
Elisa growled with annoyance and then looked up at Goliath, who was still crouched on top of the van.
"You should probably get going before Morgan and Travanti show up," she said.
"I'll rejoin the others," he replied. "They stayed behind to keep an eye on the—" Goliath paused mid sentence and put a hand to his ear.
"A second and third van pulled out of the warehouse," Brooklyn said through the comm. "Katana and I are going after the second, Lexington and Gnash are tailing the third."
Goliath knew Brooklyn and Katana could handle one van of miscreants on their own, so he opted to help Lex and Gnash with the third.
"Lexington, what is your location?" Goliath said into his comm.
"I'm heading north on Eighth Avenue," he replied.
Goliath glanced at Elisa who was also listening in.
"I'm on my way, Lex," she replied into her own comm.
"As am I," Goliath said into his. Then he jumped off of the roof of the van, gaining several feet in elevation that he used to catch a sufficient updraft. He disappeared into the night just as a soft rain began to fall in a drizzly, cold mist.
Elisa turned on her heel and jogged the short distance to where Matt was standing.
"I'm going after the other van," she told her partner without stopping as she continued on to her car.
Red and blue lights filled the alley as Morgan and Travanti pulled up.
"I'll stay and get our friend here sent back to the station. He probably knows more than he's saying," Matt called after her.
"I don't—" Mark protested.
"Save it!" Matt said sharply.
Elisa got into her car and backed out of the alley. Morgan gave her a questioning look as she passed him and his partner, but she kept her eyes focused on the road.
She flew through the streets, her light and siren blaring.
"I bet I can get to the van before you," she heard Gnash say over the comm.
"Fat chance, hatchling," Lexington shot back.
Elisa caught up to the van, though it showed no signs of pulling over. She tailed it closely, matching its speed, and watched as the shadows of Lexington and Gnash dove at each other overhead, knocking each other out of the way before one of them—Lexington it looked like—alighted upon the roof of the van first, followed by the other. It swayed slightly under the new weight, its back wheels fishtailed slightly before correcting on the rain-slick road.
"Guys, try to focus," Elisa reprimanded through the comm, but it didn't seem to do any good as she watched them shove each other back and forth as they continued to argue.
"Why do you have to be such a jerk?" Gnash said over the comm.
"Because I got stuck babysitting a thieving brat!" Lex shouted.
The van made a quick left onto 33rd street. Lexington and Gnash held on tightly to the roof as they cornered sharply. Too sharply for the conditions. The van swerved again and nearly tipped, but remained upright and barreling down the road with Elisa shortly behind.
And then a window on the passenger side of the van rolled down.
"Guys!" Elisa warned as the occupants had been alerted to the gargoyles on their roof, but Lex and Gnash were still bickering and didn't hear her over the cacophony of road noise, escalating insults, and echoing thunder.
Then a masked and dark-clad figure leaned out of the open window and pointed a rifle at the roof, aiming directly at the two gargoyles.
Elisa's heart stopped.
"They're armed!" she yelled into the comm, horrified.
Everything suddenly started moving in slow motion. The blades of her windshield wipers cut down in a single swipe, smearing away the rivulets of rain rushing down her windshield. A sharp gasp of breath sucked between her teeth as she saw the man's finger close on the trigger, her eyes darting helplessly to Lex and Gnash still wrestling on the van's roof.
But before the round could fire, a hurtling dark streak of muscle and wings slammed high into the side of the van just behind the driver's side door. The van's tires screeched against the asphalt, and the front of the van veered hard to the right before flipping onto its side. Elisa slammed on her brakes to avoid hitting the van, narrowly managing not to. The gunman was thrown out of the open window and rolled several feet before coming to a stop, lying still on the pavement, while the van continued to slide, making a horrible sound as it did so. Glass shattered and metal bent, and the van finally came to a halt against a lightpost right before the turn into the tunnel.
Lex and Gnash had leapt off the top of the van as it tipped, using their wings to parachute to safety. They soon alighted on the ground next to the vehicle and stood by as Goliath wrenched open the front driver's side door and pulled the occupant from his seat.
While the gargoyles dealt with the driver, Elisa got out of her car and rushed over to check on the unconscious passenger lying on the road. His pulse was strong, and he was breathing. She gently pulled off his balaclava.
"Martin Novak," she said aloud to herself, IDing him.
He had several lacerations and contusions on his face, but he didn't appear to be in immediate peril. She didn't want to move him especially since he was in a safe spot out of traffic, so she left him to deal with the driver who Goliath held dangling two feet off the ground. The man was stunned, but conscious. Elisa placed a hand on Goliath's forearm. Taking her signal, he gently set him down, and Elisa quickly cuffed him.
"And I'll bet you're Jan Novak," she said as she pulled off his mask, and proved herself right. "Brothers and part of Brod's gang."
The man glared angrily at her but said nothing. She quickly read him his Miranda rights before instructing Goliath to keep an eye on him as she moved around to the back of the van. Because it was lying on its side, she opened the back door like a hatch and peered inside. It was full top to bottom of what appeared to be boxes of electronics. She reached in and opened one box labeled as a stereo, and to her dismay, the contents matched the packaging. There was no sign of any drug components or paraphernalia.
"We have the driver and passenger of the second van detained including Jack Dane, but the back of the van is full of TVs and stereo equipment," Brooklyn said over the comm.
"What the hell is going on?" Elisa said to herself, though it was transmitted to everyone over the comm.
"This is not what we were expecting," Goliath said.
"No. It's not," Elisa replied angrily, slamming the van door closed.
"I'm still taking you in under suspicion of distributing stolen goods, as well as weapons charges, and reckless driving," Elisa yelled over to where Jan Novak sat slumped on the wet ground in cuffs.
"Good luck, bitch. We'll be back on street by morning," Jan said cockily in his thick Czech accent.
Elisa ignored him, but Goliath cuffed him smartly with his tail. He would not tolerate insults to his mate.
"You guys should get out of here before my backup arrives," she told Goliath.
He nodded before rounding on the two young gargoyles standing timidly next to him.
"You two," he started, anger seeping into his voice, and the two younger gargoyles flinched and cowered. "I cannot believe the reckless, impudent behavior I have witnessed from you both tonight."
"Goliath, I—" Lexington began to say.
"What were you thinking? You could have gotten each other killed!" Goliath said furiously.
"I'm sorry," Gnash said, bowing his head.
The two looked like a pair of drowned rats as they stood in the rain, tails between their legs, sulking under the weight of Goliath's reprimand.
"Head back to the castle. Now. I'll deal with you both there."
Lexington and Gnash kept their eyes lowered as they slunk away, glancing up only long enough to glare at each other. In quick succession, they each climbed a nearby building and used that as a take off point to glide home.
"Will I see you later?" Goliath asked, turning to Elisa after Lex and Gnash had faded from view in the mist.
She slumped a little, wishing their anniversary hadn't coincided with what they thought was going to be a drug bust.
"I don't know. I have to deal with this mess… I'll try my best," she replied regretfully.
Goliath nodded, understanding.
"Of course," he said as he pushed his wet hair back. There was no sarcasm in his voice. He truly understood, and Elisa was grateful for that, though it made her heart heavy.
He turned and walked toward the building to scale the side of it.
"Thank you for your help," Elisa called after him.
"Always," Goliath said, looking back at her. Then he faced forward, leapt up onto the wall, his talons digging deep into the concrete as he climbed up and over, finding just the right launch position. With a leathery snap of wings, he caught an updraft and disappeared into the night.
…
…
Elisa glanced at a clock on the wall and sighed tiredly as she walked back to her desk from the evidence locker, a bunch of forms in her hands after logging several items. It was just past four in the morning, and it would probably take her another two hours just to get through all of the paperwork that their operation had created. She had warned Goliath that she likely wouldn't be able to spend time alone with him tonight, but she was still disheartened that she wasn't going to make it. She was beyond disappointed with how things had gone that night, and despite how tired she was, she was vibrating with agitation as a result.
"Hey, Elisa. Why don't you get out of here," Matt told her as he took the stack of forms away and plopped them onto his desk. "There's nothing left to do but paperwork, and I can handle most of it."
"Really?" Elisa said, surprised. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah, of course," Matt replied with a smile. "I know what night it is—just try not to fall off any buildings this time. I get the allure of recreating special memories on an anniversary, but, you know, safety first, partner."
Elisa chuckled and shook her head as she slipped her jacket on.
"I owe you," she said sincerely before she dashed out of the bullpen.
"Yeah you do!" Matt called after her. He sat at his desk and sighed at the mountain of paperwork he now had to do.
"The things I do for love," he grumbled to himself before he picked up his pen and got to work.