Coming Under Fire

I fumble around blindly on my nightstand for my phone until I finally come in contact with it. The caller id shows an unfamiliar number, but after a second I recognize it as the number John gave me last night.

"Hello?" I answer, trying to sound as lucid as possible.

"Its me, you have to get up. I'm on my way in and I didnt want to scare the shit out of you." He says.

"What? Why?" I stutter.

"Listen, get up, check your hallway for people."

"Ok, ok, hang on." I stumble out of bed and grapple for the light switch. The sudden brightness temporarily blinds me, then I move on to the living room.

"Well?" John asks.

"I'm not there yet. Jesus, do you know what time it is?"

"Its 6:35. Is there anyone in the hall?" I open the door and poke my head out, looking either way.

"The hall is clear." I report.

"I'll be up in a minute. Leave the door unlocked." He says before hanging up. I groan and make my way back to the bedroom. I take one glance at my bed and yawn, then go into my small walk in closet and search for clothes.

I put on some skinny jeans and a lavender lace bra, then hear John clear his throat behind me. I turn to face him and watch his eyes do a full body scan from my face to my toes, pausing at my breasts for a moment. He approaches and runs the back of his fingers over my bra strap.

"Pretty." His brown eyes are dialated black and he seems to be very awake for six in the morning. His hand feels like fire against my chest.

"Have you been to bed?" I ask. He shakes his head once.

"Is that an invitation?" He asks.

"No."

"Probably a good thing since your brother is on his way."

"Wait, what?" His hand turns over and cups my breast. My eyes close for a second, then my senses return and I pull away.

"Dominic is coming here? Why?"

"Because, something is about to go down and we need to prepare, but I need to get you somewhere safe." He says, turning away from me.

"What do you mean, something big is about to go down? What does that even mean?"

"You'll find out when its over." He starts to walk away, but I grab his arm and yank him back.

"Dont do that to me! I am in this up to my eyeballs, I deserve to know what is going on!" We both hear my front door click open and Dom's voice call out.

"Anybody home?"

"Be right out!" John yells back, still looking me square in the eyes.

"Well?" I say, dropping his arm.

"All I can tell you right now is we're setting up a trap for Plumerri and associates and if we're lucky this whole thing might be over soon."

"What kind of a trap?" I ask, even though I can already guess the answer.

"Me as bait. Dom put the word out that I'm in Lawrence and that I'm meeting him at the docks at noon. We expect Plumerri to be there to finish me off."

"John, you can't. You could be killed."

"This is the only way. Dom will be there. Frank will be there, along with a bunch of other cops."

"Frank? Wait, do the cops know about this?"

"They organized it. Frank has been working this from the moment I heard Plumerri had broken into your apartment. We dont know who he's working for, but we're close. Dom has been talking to all of his connections..." My brain has turned into mush. I cant make sense of any of this, yet so much is becoming clear, all of Frank's cryptic words, his undercover case...

"Oh my God. You mean you've been in contact with Frank this whole time? And Dom too?" He nods.

"What about the Irish?"

"The Boston p.d is in process of a bust on them as we speak."

"Oh my God."

"Put a shirt on, finish getting ready. We have to go."

I throw on a black off the shoulder tee shirt and stuff my feet into some knee high boot, then rush into the bathroom to brush my teeth and put on a quick swipe of mascara. John joins me in the bathroom and we make eye contact in the mirror.

"Why do I have to go somewhere safe if this is all going on at the docks?" I ask.

"Because I wont be able to concentrate on keeping myself alive if I dont know that you're safe where someone cant swoop in and grab you. I've made that mistake before."

We walk out of the bedroom to see Dominic sitting at my kitchen table with a huge sniper rifle on the table, cleaning it.

"Jesus Christ, why must you do that here?" John asks. Dom looks up at him calmly.

"When I do it at the park people look at me funny."

"Funny." Dom turns his attention to me.

"Morning, sis, ready to have some fun?"

"No. I'm ready for answers."

"You'll get your answers soon enough. Right now, you need to go with John. We'll come get you when its all over." He says.

John is standing by the door. He grabs my purse from a hook on the wall and hangs it on my shoulder. I kiss Dom's cheek, then follow him to the door.

"Be careful, Dom. I love you."

"Love you too."

John and I walk silently down to the lobby, and we take the front door out, just like we did almost a week ago. He leads me across the street and down the cross street one block to where a silver mini van is waiting. He reaches into his jeans pocket and grabs the key fob, beeping the van unlocked. I hop in the drivers seat and internally wonder what mall he stole this from. He starts the van and slowly pulls away from the curb, stopping at the stop sign across the street from my building, before turning right.
　
I observe John while he drives. The mini van's dash is like a whale with buttons all over it. He's sitting casually in his fake leather seat, one hand on the wheel, looking like he's always driven a soccer mom van. But thats the thing with John, he never seems uncomfortable. He adapts very quickly to whatever situation he might be in, whether it may be a fugitive running from the law, or driving a mom van.
　
We weave our way through the familiar streets of Lawrence. The only difference between us is he knows exactly whats going on and I dont have a damn clue.

"I'm so damn confused. How could you know all of this and not tell me?" I ask.

"I was trying to keep you safe." He says, his eyes never leaving the road.

"By keeping me in the dark?"

"It was the only way. If Plumerri or anyone else thought you knew for a second what was going on, they would have used you as bait for me, or worse."

"I dont see how you figure that."

"Listen, I know you have no reason to trust me right now, but try to remember that I've never pulled you down the wrong path."

"Well, except when we were teenagers." I say. He cracks a smile.

"Yeah, I guess you're right there. But you were a willing participant."

"The dark side always looks great when you're sixteen." I say.

"And now look at us." We share a smile. It reminds me just how long we've known each other and how much we've been through together.

He pulls up to a store on Peters. There's a wooden stair case going up the west side of the building, where I assume is an apartment. I look up at it as we park.

"This is where you're hiding me?" I ask, doubt filling my voice.

"What, not glamorous enough for ya?" He asks as we get out of the van.
I look to the road when Frank's pos undercover car pulls up behind the van. He gets out and meets us on the sidewalk.

"I'm not happy with you either." I inform him.

"I wasnt expecting you to be, and honestly I dont give a shit right now. My goal is keeping you safe so John can do what he needs to do without worrying about you." He says, leading us up the stairs.

"At least someone is worried about me." I grumble. I hear John chuckle behind me.
Frank unlocks the steel fire door of the apartment and opens it wide enough for me to walk in.

"My jail cell." I drone.

"Its just for a few hours." John says.

"I cant believe you're just going to lock me up and leave to go do whatever it is you're doing."

"Get used to it, sis." A car horn toots downstairs.

"Ah, your babysitter is here." My eyebrows raise.

"Oh no. No, no one told me I was going to have a damn babysitter!"

"Dont think of it like that." John says.

"No, you dont trust me to be by myself." I snap. He sighs.

"Fine, you're right. I dont."

"Thats rich coming from you." I stomp across the small apartment to the window and stand in front of it, pouting. I hear Frank come back into the apartment, but I dont look at him.

"Izzy, this is officer Ruzek, he's going to be staying with you here, just in case theres any problems. Please dont give him any trouble, he's fresh from the academy." He tells me. I dont say anything and Frank looks at the young uniformed officer with a grimace.

"Make sure you dont take your eyes off her. Shes sneaky," I give him the finger,

"And stubborn." He finishes. He leaves the apartment, stomping down the wooden stairs.
I feel John come up behind me before I hear him speak.

"Please dont do anything stupid." He says.

"Gee, thanks for the faith." He sighs.

"I wont! Jesus."

"We'll be back in a few hours."

"John, please be careful. I couldnt stand it if something happened to you."

"I'll be fine," he pauses, "I love you."

"Love you too." He squeezes my shoulder quickly before walking out of the apartment, leaving me with rookie blue.

Once the door clicks locked, I turn and check out the uniform inprisoned with me. He's young, with sandy blond hair and a five o' clock shadow.

"So, what did you do to get this job?" I ask. He quickly smirks, then covers it up.

"I think detective Parelli likes me, he wanted to give me a chance." He says with a confidence that almost borders on arrogance if he wasnt so cute.

"Ah-ha. You work with Frank a lot?"

"No, ma'am. I work beat and he's in homocide. He did pick me from the academy though, so I guess we're aligned."

I start investigating the apartment. The main room is open with an entryway, kitchen and living room. A doorway leads to a bathroom and right across from it a tiny bedroom. I'm looking for windows, but there are few. One in each room. Its only one story up, so its not high up. Theres a fire escape under tbe bedroom window. I decide that would be my quickest escape.
I am not content to sit here and wait. I need to know whats going on. I need answers and I need them now. I'm confused why Dom was in sniper mode this morning, and I'm concerned about John putting himself out there as bait. And I'm not going to sit here wringing my hands while everything goes down.

I start going through cupboards, trying to come up with a distraction for my new cop buddy.

"There is no food in here! Do they expect us to starve?! I havent had breakfast! I need coffee." I whine. Cop says nothing. I turn and look at him.

"What was your name again?"

"Uh...Ruzek... Adam Ruzek, ma'am."

"Hmm, I don't know the name. Is your family from around here?"

"Haverhill." I nod.

"Ok. So...Ruzek, you feel like running to Mickey D's and getting me some food?"

"I can't do that, ma'am. Detective Parelli said you are not to leave my sight."

"Oh, well I can go with you."

"No." He says quickly.

"Well what am I supposed to do, starve until Frank comes back and releases me? I'll pass out. My blood sugar will drop and I'll have a seizure." I've worked myself into a pretty good tizzy and I'm pretty sure Officer Ruzek thinks I'm a major drama queen at this point. Fine by me. Maybe I can drive him crazy enough to actually go out.

"I think you should go get us something to eat." I tell him.

"And leave you here? Uh uh. Not happening." I feign shock.

"I can't believe that you don't trust me!"

"Detective Parelli told me specifically not to trust you."

"Listen, Frank, he's my brother, and yeah he's a cop, but he still thinks he needs to boss me around, but I'm a grown woman, ya know? And I mean, what am I gonna do, lure you out of here then crawl out of a window to interfere with a police operation? Of course not. I mean, who would be that stupid?" He looks at me with a look like I'm giving him a migraine.

"I would get into trouble. Sorry. We're just gonna have to hold tight."

"Yeah, but arent you hungry? Did you eat breakfast? And you wont get in trouble if no one knows you left. I mean, whos gonna tell? Not me." He rolls his eyes.

"Fine! I'll go get some food. Jesus." He stands and I sit on the edge of the couch.

"You wanna handcuff me to the bathroom sink or something?" I ask. He scowls at me.

"Don't tempt me, lady. And dont make me regret this." I hold up two fingers.

"I promise, scouts honor."

I watch him walk out and listen as he locks the door, then tromps down the stairs. I stand and move to the window, close enough that I can see out, but far enough away that Officer Nosey cant see me. I watch as he pulls away from the curb and drives to the end of the block.

"Sorry, buddy. But you shouldnt have trusted me." I say, watching him turn at the intersection.
I quickly move into the bedroom and throw the window open. The fire escape looks sturdy, but I had a traumatic experience on one a while ago that keeps me cautious. I gingerly step out on the platform then crawl down the first ladder. Luckily, I'm only up a few levels and I make quick work of it.

As soon as my feet hit the ground, I make my way around to the alley behind the building, knowing the street it leads out to. I'm well hidden, and there isnt much traffic since its still early. I come out onto the sidewalk, but check the area in all directions before crossing the street and entering another alley.

The next street I come out onto I recognize instantly and I take a left, keeping close to the shadows. I step inside the proccess serving office I work in and lock the door behind me before entering my boss, Mike's, inner office. He's sitting at his desk, eating a breakfast sandwich. Theres another one on the desk, so I sit down and help myself. He eyes me warily.

"Something tells me you're not here to work early."

"Some shit is going down at the docks at noon. I need to get down there, but I dont have any wheels... and the cops cant know."

"Where is your car?"

"At my apartment. My brother stuck me in a safe house to wait while this operation goes down, but I cant do that." He nods, taking in all of this info. I polish off my sandwich and wipe my fingers on a paper napkin.

"My cars out in the alley. You could take that."

"Thank you."

"Dont thank me just yet. I want you to be careful. If anything they say about your brothers business connections are true, you're dealing with bad people. You got a gun?"

"No, its at my place, which I have a feeling is being watched." He turns his office chair around silently and reaches into the top drawer of his file cabinet and pulls out a glock 9. He slides it across the desk to me.

"I owe you." I say.

"Yeah, you can make it up to me tomorrow, I've got fifteen people to serve or else I'm rat shit to the court."

"You got it." I take the gun and his car keys from him and walk out of the office. The proccess servers office is one of two businesses in the same building. The second bussiness is on the opposite side of the hall in an office much like Mike's. They share a bathroom and tiny kitchenette in the back, along with the backdoor that leads to the alley. I go straight out the back and see Mike's navy colored Chrysler. I hop in, adjust the seats and mirrors before pulling forward out of the alley. On the seat next to me is a black hooded sweatshirt. I stop at a stop sign and pull the sweatshirt on, pulling the hood over my hair.
　
The docks aren't far from the office and there isn't a soul to be found at this time of day. I check my phone and see that it's 11:15. I find a place to park behind a little dilapitated shed and hop out. I put the glock in my sweatshirt pocket, keeping my hand on it for easy access, then start creeping along the side of the shed towards the water. I move slowly and cautiously so as not to make noise in my knee high boots. If I had know when I was getting dressed this morning I would have worn my Doc Martens.
　
I make it around the shed and put it behind me. I find it strange that I can't see anyone else here. If this was supposed to be this big operation, wouldn't I be able to see people mulling around, trying to stay hidden. I look around at the surrounding buildings and don't see anyone peeking out the windows. My grip on the gun tightens. I'm starting to suspect maybe John just told me the operation was going down on the docks to throw me off, just in case I decided to show up. The pit in my stomach grows at the possibilities as I start edging out towards the water. The old wooden docks jut out from the concrete platform where I'm standing, empty of any boats. The water is gray and looks freezing, slapping against the concrete and I shiver.
　
I'm just about to turn around to go back to the car when I feel an arm wrap around me from behind and the familiar feeling of a gun at my back. I struggle and look up into the face of my assailant and see Robert Plumerri.
　
"If you scream, I'll shoot you and dump you in the water, understand?" I nod, trying to keep my wits about me. His hand is covering my mouth and I struggle to breathe. I try to calm myself enough to think. I have the glock in my pocket and my hands are free, but are gripping his forearm in fear.
　
"Now, where's your boyfriend?" he asks. I glare at him and he removes his hand from my mouth.
　
"He's not here."
　
"Well, if he's not here, why are you out here wandering around by yourself?"
　
"Go to hell." He laughs.
　
"Let her go." I hear John's voice behind us. Plumerri whips us around and I see John approaching, hands in the air.
　
"Well, John Kristaldi, its about time we met in person."
　
"How do you do? Now, let her go. She has nothing to do with this." John says.
　
"I think she does. She's been the key in drawing you out of your hole."
　
"There are cops surrounding us, Plumerri. You're not gonna get out of here."
　
"I don't see anyone here except the three of us. You expect me to believe a man on the run has been cavorting with the police this entire time."
　
"Oh so you don't watch the news, Rob? Your buddies in Boston all got taken down this morning. And you wanna know why? Because I set it in motion. So now you have nothing, no money, no friends, no nothing. I know you've been playing this all alone, trying to make us believe you had some secret boss, but it was just you, trying to get rich quick and take out the Irish and Scully, so you had everything."
　
"And so far it's going pretty well I'd say." Plumerri says.
　
"Except you don't have your money and Scully ain't going anywhere and now you're about to be arrested. I mean, way to fuck up, man. You couldn't even kill me, and I'm just some lowlife who saw too much."
　
"I could still kill you."
　
"And then you'd be going down for murder one. Did I not mention the cops surrounding us?"
　
"I'd still get the satisfaction. Maybe thats what I'll do, one last hurrah before these imaginary cops of yours show up. I'll shoot your girlfriend, make you watch, then I'll shoot you."
　
"Or you could let her go, surrender to the cops and you'll go away for ten to fifteen and be back out on the streets. I mean, don't you have a wife and nice house and a job at the construction company? I'm sure your wife will understand, hell, she'll probably even wait for you." John's glance moves to me for a second and I start to move my hand down from Plumerri's arm. I want John to keep Plumerri occupied for just a minute longer and I can tell he sees that.
　
"So, where are your cop friends, John? You say they're surrounding us, waiting for me, yet I have yet to see even a trace. Shouldn't they be here by now? Or are you just trying to trick me?" I slowly move my hand down and am almost to my sweatshirt pocket when I feel Plumerri grab my arm.
　
"And what do you think you're doing?" He grabs the gun from my pocket and out of the corner of my eye I see John running up to us. He jumps Plumerri, forcing him to let me go and I hear two gun shots. I scream and duck, covering my head, ears ringing. I open my eyes and see John and Plumerri on the ground. Plumerri with a tiny hole over his left eyebrow and I John is passed out, turned away from me. I run to John and roll him over, screaming his name. I don't see any blood and I search desperately for where he might be hit. I unzip the sweat shirt he's wearing and see a bullet proof vest with a hole punctured in it.
　
"John! Wake up, wake up, wake up! Come on!"
　
I hear the pounding of footsteps all around me and I feel someones hand on my shoulder and look up to see Frank.
　
"What the fuck are you doing here, Izzy? You could have been killed."
　
"You can yell at me later, just help John." I tell him. He curses under his breath and turns his attention to John, who is still laying motionless. And EMT runs up to us and Frank pulls me back.
　
"He took two, but he's got the vest on. I can't tell if either of them went through." Frank tells them.
　
"Wait, two? I only heard two shots, what about Plumerri?" I ask, panicked.
　
"Silencer. Dom got him with the sniper before our guys even had a shot."
　
"Dom's here?" I ask, looking around. I see the EMT loading John up on a backboard and I move closer.
　
"Is he gonna be okay?" I ask.
　
"It looks like one of the bullets went through, the other one is lodged in the vest."
　
"Where did it hit?"
　
"Left side, by the rib cage. We have to get him to a hospital." Frank grabs my arm.
　
　

Frank half drags, half leads me around some outbuildings to where his truck is. I hop in and don't even buckle my seat belt as he turns on his dashboard light and burns rubber out of the lot. The hospital is only a few miles away and we follow the ambulance into the ER lot. Frank finds a nearby parking spot and I throw myself out of the car and run across the parking lot as the EMT's unload John from the back of the ambulance. I lurch to a stop next to the stretcher and see John's eyes open.

"John!"

"Hey toots."

"Are you okay?"

"Eh, just a bullet in the chest....Nothing I can't handle." his voice is shaky and his breathing is shallow. I touch his face.

"Don't try to talk. I'll be here when you get out of surgery. I love you." He nods and the EMT's push the strecher away from me.

Frank wraps his arm around my shoulders and walks me to the waiting room. We're seated for only a few minutes, when Dom storms in. Frank stands as he approaches.

"What the hell happened?" Dom asks.

"John was shot in the struggle for Izzy's gun, took two rounds, one penetrated the vest. He's in surgery now."

"He wasn't supposed to be in danger."

"We both know shit like this can happen." Dom's eyes shift to me.

"And you! What the fuck did you think you were doing? You could have been killed!"

"I know, it was stupid, but I..."

"I know, you hate being left out of shit like this. But Iz, come on, John could have been killed."

"He could have been killed if I wasn't there too. I didn't see any of you guys anywhere close."

"I was on the top floor of that outbuilding, trying to get a shot on Plumerri."

"Against my orders, I might add." Frank grumbles.

"Lucky I did. Your guys were too busy scrambling to get a shot in."

"Off the record, I'm agreeing with you."

"Well, I guess right now none of that matters." I say.

"I'll stay with you." Dom says.

"I would, but I have to get back." Frank tells me. I nod. He kisses my forehead and I watch him leave the waiting room, already on his phone. Dom and I sit down and I rest my head on his shoulder.

"I don't know if I should get ahold of his family or not." I say.

"I will. You don't need to deal with that. We'll wait until he gets out of surgery, so I know what to tell them."

"I'm still mad at you for involving him in this mess to begin with." I say.

"I know. I am too. If I could go back and get someone else, I would. John always seems to get caught up in my messes."

"Mine too." I sigh. He squeezes my shoulders

"He'll be fine. He's been shot before, and he was in a lot worse shape then, and he left the hospital the very next day, remember that?" I smile.

"Yeah, I was so pissed at him."

We sit in silence for a minute and I can feel myself coming down from the adrenaline and start to absorb everything that happened today.

"So, how did you figure out Plummeri was alone?"

"We didn't really. He kind of laid that out for us. He was trying to go off on his own, but he got greedy. He was planning on taking the shipment from Scully and the Irish surprised him. He figured taking it from me and John would be easy, but then the Irish showed up and made things a lot harder, they stole "his" money and took out all his guys. But at the time, he didn't realize it was him, he thought for sure that John got away with this money. All the signs were there, because the Irish set him up. They saw John as an easy scape goat."

"And then I let it out that the Irish were the ones who took the money."

"Yeah, but he still wanted John, because at this point he'd killed some of his guys, and taunted him and trying to dig into Plummeri's history, making him look bad to his alli's."

"So, now the cops have the Irish?"

"From what I've heard, they got a few key guys, not including Burke Sr and Burke Jr. So, the Irish mob syndicate is far from out of the game."

"Will they come after John?"

"Not likely. I'll smooth it over. The Burkes owe me a favor."

"Even though you sold them out."

"Sure. Don't you worry about it."

"I'm worried about it."

We both look up when a doctor comes in,

"Are you the relatives of John Kristaldi."

"Yes." I lie.

"I need to talk to you in my office."