The Soldier and The Spy: Jay Halstead - Episode 1

Chapter 3

As far as operations went this one was pretty straightforward. Ivan Shevchenko was a local arms dealer for the Russian mob who according to their intel would be handing off a small cache of weapons tonight at one of the city's shipyards. They'd only learned about Shevchenko three nights ago when one of his men, Gregor Agin, had killed a man for cheating in a game of Durak, a popular Russian card game. Intelligence had caught the case because Agin had decided the best place to deal with the cheat was in the middle of the illegal gambling hall they'd been playing in. The crime scene had been a mess, four dead and multiple injured, but luckily for Agin he hadn't been caught in the crossfire and when they'd finally grabbed him this afternoon it hadn't taken long for him to agree to offer information in exchange for a plea deal. Which led to why he and his team were currently vesting up.

The plan was to wait in the stacks of shipping containers for visual confirmation that weapons were being exchanged and then go in and round everyone up. Straightforward, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong; there was a tightness in his stomach, an instinct that years of combat in Afghanistan had honed. It was that instinct that told him what he wanted to do. Where he wanted to go.

"Jay."

He blinked and realized Voight had finished talking, everyone already several steps from where they'd gathered by his truck to go over the plan and all giving him strange looks. He ignored them. He might not be able to explain this feeling but he knew better than to ignore it. "I want to go high."

Voight's brows rose but Jay held his stare and after a brief moment understanding dawned in his Sergeant's eyes and he nodded. "Alright. Find a roost."

He supressed a sigh of relief and gave a grateful nod back, quickly grabbing his rifle from the back of his truck. Once he found a container that would give him a good vantage point Kevin gave him a boost up, passing him his gun before heading off to find his own place to hide. They only had to wait about ten minutes for the first car to show, though none of them recognized the three men who got out, and another twenty after that for the rest of the party to arrive.

"Alright, stay sharp." Voight said over the radio as two more cars pulled in, five men getting out this time. "Jay keep an eye on Shevchenko. I don't want him slipping away."

"Copy." He replied quietly, already slowing his breath as he followed the group through his scope.

The tightness in his stomach grew stronger as he watched them interact, watched the way Ivan gave a nervous smile and waved his hands, appearing to apologize for his lateness. Whoever the man across from him was he wasn't the arms dealers normal contact, and seemed a lot higher up the ladder than he was used to. The second man made a motion and Ivan held up a finger, gesturing for two of his men to grab something from his car, and Jay didn't know why but the slimy smile on his face had him gripping his rifle tighter.

"Wait till we see the cash-"

He stopped hearing his Sergeant, stopped hearing the distant cry of seagulls and feeling the briny breeze on his cheek. He stopped breathing. Because it wasn't guns that Ivan's men pulled out of the trunk, it was a woman.

It was Tess.

The bag over her head meant nothing, not when he knew every line of her body, every dip and curve and dimple, not to mention his necklace shone like a beacon.

She still wore it.

His heart tugged, sharply, painfully, the most wonderfully familiar ache and for the first time in five years Jay felt like he could breathe again. And then the men holding her shoved her to her knees, Ivan smirking as the bag was yanked off and rage began coursing through his veins like wildfire. He would kill them. If any of them so much as touched a hair on her head, which they already had judging by the blood on her left temple, he would kill every single one of them.