Chapter Text
They had been sitting at their desks listening to Voight and the Sergeant from Guns and Gangs, John Marshall, go at it for almost a half hour. It was entertaining and would have been more so, if they weren't arguing about Jay.
Jay for his part, was ignoring the whole situation. He already knew what was going on, since Marshall had approached him instead of Voight.
Guns and Gangs wanted him as a loan out. They needed someone with military experience to infiltrate a gang on the rise. Of the eight members in the group, seven were ex-military, five of them Army, three of those were Rangers. All of the ex-Army members were before Jay's time and their leader, Barry Harris, had been a Ranger.
They were all recruited from a Veteran's support group run by Harris. They were a small outfit, only active a year but had quickly made a name for themselves in the drug trade and were starting to make one for themselves in guns and that was where Jay would come in.
Jay knew he was going in, Voight knew it, Marshall knew it, but they needed to get the pissing contest out of the way. Guns and Gangs refused to turn over the case to Intelligence, which meant they would remain primary, and that pissed Voight off to no end.
"You may be primary, but it's my guy so I want to know everything. You withhold anything from us and there'll be hell to pay."
"I'm not the asshole in this conversation Voight, I'll share information."
"You sure I'm the only asshole here? Aren't you the one who approached my guy before coming to me?"
Marshall knew it was a prick move, but his only recourse was to bring the case to Halstead behind Voight's back or Voight wouldn't listen. Halstead had a rep throughout the department. He was good police. He would want to go in and Voight would listen to him.
He shrugged his shoulders at Voight, "Guess it takes one to know one. You'll get a report at the end of each day and for check-ins we can have a handler each both unit. I'm not looking for glory here. I'm looking to take these guys down."
"And I'm looking to protect my man."
"Well then, we're on the same page. We'll have his back."
XXXXXXX
Jay'd been running with the crew just over two months. He fit in with the group of veterans. They liked him, he was tough and took no shit. They respected that.
His involvement in their drug operation was, for the most part, support. He was an extra gun and sometimes that gun was his sniper rifle. He'd only used it twice. The first time was three weeks into the op where he saved the crew's asses. The second time he sent in a warning shot when the buyers got squirrelly. No one was hurt either time, but it sent the message they weren't a group to be fucked with.
Jay's sniper skills were a bonus to them and highly useful to their growing business. He protected them and their money. But where he was truly an asset and why he was welcomed in in the first place was the gun trade. He had the contacts with access to the guns and the group had access to buyers. It was a win win for everyone and they'd made a lot of money in his short stint with them.
As of last week they had enough evidence to bring down the crew and some big players throughout the city, but there'd been some whispers about branching out into human trafficking and it seemed as if they already had a way in.
At Jay's last check-in he asked that they hold off on the arrests and take a stab at nailing the ring Barry was trying to work with.
The issue was Jay's safety. Every passing day he was in, was another day something could go wrong. But Jay assured them he would be safe, especially with the safety net they created three weeks into the op.
Voight had had his CI Maurice get a line on Barry, make contact on his own and set up a meet. It was a 'staged' rip Ryan 'caught' from his sniper perch and laid down non-lethal cover fire while the group of veterans bugged out. He saved their ass's and strengthened his cover.
Even without the safety net, Jay had a secure foothold. He'd made them a lot of money with no issues and almost more than that, Harris liked the fact he was a Ranger. His respect, the group's respect, skyrocketed when they learned 'Ryan' had done two tours in the Valley of Death.
So, Jay was solid and would continue to work from the inside, business as usual, gathering information so they could pull down the human trafficking ring along with Barry's crew. But before any of that could happen, they hit a speed bump named Jimmy.
X
Their home base was Barry's legit business, a small junk yard he inherited from his dad. It had a large three bay garage where they would sit and play poker when they weren't stripping down or fixing up legally acquired cars. They would sell the parts to mechanics around the city or park the fixed up cars along the streets for sale.
The junk yard was a perfect place to stash their drugs and guns and being that it was located in one of the poorer white neighborhoods, there wasn't a high police presence.
It had been quiet all day with nothing to work on, legal or illegal, so they were all hanging out, doing their own thing when the quiet was broken up by over the top excitement.
"Jimmy!"
"Hey. There he is!"
"Jimmy! Welcome back man!"
Whoever the guy was, the second he got out of his car, he was welcomed with hugs, whistles, fist bumps and back slaps. He was an unknown to Jay, always dangerous when undercover, but he would have the guys look into him that night.
Jay turned to one of the crew, a guy named Lance who in another life, he could have been friends with if the guy wasn't a criminal.
"Who's he?"
"Jimmy…just got out of Cook County. His half brother was Barry's best friend."
"Ahhh. Got it. Good guy? They sure seem happy to see him."
"He's an idiot. We're all pretty good actors when it comes to Jimmy, but we're stuck with him…and Pete there, hell, he could win an Oscar."
X
Jimmy was soaking up the good vibes coming from the guys and turned to his best friend Pete, "Who's that talking to Lance?"
"Ryan, new guy, kind of new…" he chuckled, "…could give Lance a run for his money, he's pretty funny when he's not being a hard ass."
"Huh…looks familiar."
"Moved here from Milwaukee, two, three months ago. He's brought us a couple of sweet deals, has good contacts."
It dawned on Jimmy where he'd seen the guy before and he wished he had his gun.
"He's not from Milwaukee. He's a cop."
The volume of Jimmy's statement silenced the group and a couple of them drew their guns but Barry put a stop to anything further.
Taking a huge risk, Jay pulled his gun and immediately pointed it at the idiot's head. Ryan wouldn't put up with this kind of shit.
"Who the fuck you think you are?"
Jimmy took a quick step back and over so he could see around the cop, "I'm telling you Barry, he's a fucking cop. He was in Stateville my last stint and him and another guy got jumped. I was right there. A whole bunch of cops came in with the guards and broke everything up."
Barry pointed his gun at Jay, "You a cop man?"
Keeping his gun on the idiot, he calmly turned his head and looked Barry in the eye, ignoring the gun now inches from his forehead, "No…I'm from Milwaukee. I've never been in Stateville or any other prison…"
He flicked the safety on on his gun and tucked it into the back of his jeans then glared at Jimmy.
"…I'm not stupid enough to get caught."
He was hoping his bravado would save him, hoping the lucrative deal he set up for later was more important to Barry than sending a bullet through his brain…at least temporarily.
Barry scanned both of them and put his gun away. He had an obligation to take care of Jimmy. He had promised his friend he would look after him before he died. But that obligation only went so far. He wasn't going to let things go to hell in a hand basket based on Jimmy's word.
"I'm not kidding Barry. The guy's a fucking cop." He tried to get in Jay's face but Jay stiff armed him with a hand to the chest and put the idiot on his back, then for good measure, held him there with a boot to his neck.
"You call me a cop one more time, you'll be gummin' your fucking food."
Barry put an end to the squabbling. "Knock it off it, the both of you."
He needed Ryan for this deal to happen but decided to error on the side of caution.
"Dog tags and belt."
Jay took his foot off the asshole's neck and allowed him to scramble to his feet, then followed the request without argument. He took off his dog tags and set them on the table then reached for his belt.
When Jimmy reached for the tags, Jay pulled a hidden 4 inch knife from his belt and drove it into the table, blocking his path.
He was quick and no one saw it coming. The flat hilt of the knife was part of the buckle and the blade was sheathed behind the leather of the belt.
"You put one finger on those, I'll cut it into bite size pieces and shove them down your throat through your nose."
The little shit took a step back and put his hands in his pockets.
Jay put the knife away and set the belt on the table.
"Interesting belt Ryan."
Breaking off his death glare at Jimmy, he turned to the group, "Can't always carry my K-bar and this one is the perfect size for cutting off little dicks."
Everyone chuckled at that, except Barry who barely cracked a smile. No one liked Jimmy, but would tolerate him now that he was out of jail. Not one of them thought Ryan was a cop, but they understood Barry's caution and appreciated it. He was a good leader and wouldn't take chances with the operation or their freedom.
"Gimme your phone."
"What?
"Phone."
He handed his phone to Barry who threw it on the table and destroyed it with the butt of his gun.
"What the fuck!?"
After his initial outburst, he ignored Barry and addressed Jimmy, "You owe me a new phone motherfucker."
Jimmy tried to stare Ryan down but it was laughable and had a couple of the guys chuckling again when the argument shined a light on their differences.
Ryan had five inches on Jimmy, was wearing a tight black t-shirt and jeans and was pure muscle. Jimmy was a buck thirty soaking wet and not one ounce of it was muscle.
X
An hour later, they headed out for the meet. He didn't fuss about what went on with Jimmy, just hopped in the car with Barry, Lance and Mark. No one said anything the entire trip. Jay could tell there was a small crack in the trust he'd built up with the group, but a crack was still workable. They hadn't outright killed him. He had a chance to patch it up.
Jay greeted the 'buyers,' Kevin, one of Kevin's CI's and a detective from Guns and Gangs,' like they were old friends, then introduced them to Barry and let him take it from there.
The meet went off without a hitch, which was the plan as far as the op went. And with Jimmy's arrival, the timing for it couldn't be better. It would be more evidence to prove to the guys he wasn't a cop and that Jimmy was just living up to his idiot status.
X
Kevin was on his phone as soon as they were far enough away and it was safe to do so.
"Voight."
"Boss, Jay needs an unscheduled meet. He had both hands in his pockets when we got there."
"How was he?"
"Uninjured, fine during the buy, but he needs information. He asked how my girl was doing."
"I'll have Adam and Parker sit on his apartment. Head to the underpass. I'll have Hailey meet you there."
X
They got back to the junkyard and as much as Jay would've liked to get the hell out of dodge and meet with his handlers about Jimmy, he knew he couldn't. On the criminal side of things, it would get the alarm bells ringing if he left. He'd set up the meeting and it was successful. He'd be expected to drink with them while they divvied up the money.
On the cop side of things, if he left he wouldn't be able to safely go back and he'd be pulled. They would have to settle for just taking down the crew and drop the human trafficking angle and he couldn't let that happen.
So he did what they did after every meet, sat down with everyone and had a beer.
They were a couple of beers in, shootin' the shit and having a good time razzing each other, when Jimmy came to sit at the same table. Even though it might be pushing the envelope given the subject of their argument, he knew he couldn't let Ryan's animosity toward Jimmy go, it wasn't in his nature. So he lashed out.
"Go sit over there bitch. Or better yet, take your cut and go buy me a fucking phone."
They all laughed and good-naturedly piled onto his statement but he was under no illusion that any of them had forgotten what the asshole had said about him. He also knew they would follow Barry's lead and Barry was currently laughing right along with them.
He smiled and took a sip of beer while lingering on just this side of fucked. What Jimmy said about what went down in Stateville was true, he just wasn't the cop involved. If Barry looked into it, there was a slim to none chance he would be able get the identity of the cop in question but he would be able to find out about the fight if he had contacts in prison. One part of Jimmy's statement could be confirmed, after that it would boil down to his word against Jimmy's.
Too wrapped up in his thoughts and Lance's 'what the fuck' story, he didn't realized someone had come up beside him. He was just turning to see who it was when the butt of a shotgun made contact the side of his head.
X
The blow knocked the cop out and off his chair.
Lance and a few of the others got up and angrily rounded the table toward him, but Barry stopped them with a whistle.
Ryan's tumble landed him on his stomach, bloody face angled toward them, left leg bent, one arm at his side, the other trapped under his body. It was a hard blow and he looked dead.
Jimmy took a step back from the others and kicked Ryan in the hip, earning a scowl from Barry, "This guy's a fucking cop. Give me a couple of hours and I'll prove it to you."
Barry crouched down and felt for a pulse. Finding a strong one, he looked at Jimmy and growled, "You've got two hours."
Lance and the others reluctantly sat back down and followed Barry's lead. They left Ryan laying on his stomach but that didn't mean they weren't worried about their friend. It was hard to ignore the blood flowing across his face and neck from the gash at his hairline.
Taking a sip of beer, Barry sat down where he could keep an eye on Ryan's breathing and started making some calls. Someone was going to be dead in two hours and obligation be damned, he was hoping it was Jimmy because he couldn't stand the little shit, but Ryan he liked.
When it came down to it, Jimmy's death would be quick - a single bullet to the brain, he owed that to his friend, his brother in arms. On the other hand, if Ryan was a cop, it wouldn't matter how much he liked him, he would be in for a world of hurt before a bullet found his brain.