Gracelyn Lindsay

Wrong Side of the Bars (pt 2)

We arrive at an old dingy hotel and surround the room the man at the front desk said was Ernesto's. Antonio breaks down the door but the room comes up empty.

"He was here," Antonio kicks the chair that his son was in.

Just as we're about to leave Ernesto appears at the end of the hall. We follow him outside the hotel into the the alleyway. Antonio tackles him to the ground.

"Where's my son?" He yells with his arm poised of Ernesto's throat.

"He knows Antonio," Voight says leaning over next to him.

We all stand back and watch as Hank passes him a knife.

"Do what you gotta do."

"Where is my son?" Antonio asks again with the knife hovering above Ernesto's eye.

"Abogado."

"No," Antonio yells "ain't no lawyers around here."

"You got about three minutes before this place is flooded with uniforms. So what you gotta do," Hank mutters.

"I'll start with an eye."

I swallow hard was I watch Ernesto squeeze his eyes shut. It's not that I feel bad for him because I don't. I just don't particularly want to see his eye cut out.

"Cut his out," Voight encourages "do it."

After much hesitation Antonio throws the knife down and stands up. It's not relief that Ernesto's okay that washes over me, but relief that his eye wasn't cut out in the middle of an alleyway.

Antonio cuffs him and we head back to the district.

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"I'm glad I wasn't Antonio back there," I mutter to my sister.

We're watching Antonio, Ernesto, and Hank go back and forth in the interview room.

"Oh I wish I was because I know exactly what I would have done," she hisses.

My stomach squirms a little because I know for a fact that my younger sister and I most definitely would not have done the same thing.

After sitting in the bullpen for what seems like eternity while Antonio and Voight are down in the cage with Ernesto, we finally get something out of him. According to Ernesto it was some guy named Mateo that had Antonio's son. We surround Sheldon as he plays back some of Mateo's phone calls.

"He's running," I point out.

"Nothing about Diego though," Erin follows up.

"I pinged his cell to the west Adam's tower,"
Jin says.

"Triangulating to the city center."

"I want men deployed to all major transportation out of the city Midway Ohare, all those places," Voight orders.

"He's at union station."
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Upon arriving at the station we all split up. Erin and I wander towards the busses just in time to see Mateo and Diego boarding one.

"I see him," I radio in to Voight, "boarding a bus to Indianapolis."

"Wait for us," he responds.

"We don't have time to wait," Erin looks at me and I know she's right.

"Go," I nod at her and she hurries to the bus.

I race back to Voight and the others. We make our way to the managers office explaining where Erin went on the way.

"How many people on the bus?" Jay asks.

"Twenty-five plus the driver."

"Can you contact the driver," I question.

"Talia yeah I got her cellphone number," the manager says.

"Can she handle herself," Hank asks.

"I don't know she's only been with us a year," the manager shrugs.

"Give me the number," Antonio dials the bus driver.

"This is Talia," she says through the phone.

"Talia hey this is Clint from the managers office."

"I got a cop on this bus."

"I know. CPD here wants to talk to you."

"Hey Talia my names Antonio. Listen we need you to act like there's engine trouble and that a second bus is on it's way. Have you ever had engine trouble before?"

"Once, there was a whole lot of smoke and the engine went out."

"Just like that, but without the smoke," Antonio instructs.

"I think I see him," Talia mutters.

"Alright you gotta play it cool just tap your breaks a few times and pull over we can do the rest."

"Yes sir."

Al and I climb aboard the second bus and the rest of the unit follow behind. We watch as the bus in front of us slows to a stop and pull up behind it. Al gets of our rig and gets on the other to provide some instructions to the passengers before coming back to our bus. The passengers start to get of the bus, bar my sister, Diego, and Mateo.

"You have the shot," Voight asks over the radio.

"Negative," Jay replies.

I watch as my sister slowly makes her way up to the front of the bus and starts talking to Talia. Diego and Mateo start follow. As he looks around he realizes that he's been made and grabs his gun and Diego.

"Drop it," I hear over the radio as Erin aims her gun at Mateo.

"What do we do Al," I turn to him.

"I got a plan just wait," he gets ready to press the accelerator as the power struggle continues on the bus.

Antonio runs up to the bus and watches through the window.

"Do you have the shot?" Voight asks with no reply.

Al guns the ignition and drives directly towards the bus in front of us.

"What are you doing?" I shriek.

"Trust me."

"Lindsay hold onto something," Adam breathes into the radio.

I watch as she grabs the seat beside her just as we plow into the back of the bus she's on. Upon impact, Mateo releases Diego and he falls into Erin's arms. Mateo let's off a shot, but at the same time Antonio puts two in his chest.

The rest of us make our way to the bus Erin and Antonio are on.

"I got him Antonio, I got him," Erin tells him.

Antonio quickly embraces his son.

"You okay," I ask my sister, quickly picking up on her shaky hands.

Before she can respond, Hank walls over to us.

"You did the right thing," he nods.

We all walk away together.

"It gets easier," Hank assures my sister.
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The next day, dressed in our blues, we all stand out at Julie's funeral.

With tears in his eyes, Alec pulls of the piece of tape covering his wife's name on the memorial. As soon as the ceremony is finished, Hank corrals is all together.

"I've been given the go ahead to run intelligence the way I want to run it," he starts "no interference this is our unit now. You do things my way, our way. You unclip your badge at night knowing you did right. The police standing next to you are your family. And to me there's nothing more important. If you're in stay here with me."

We all look around and nod.