The Hunter Ch. 02 - Chicago Mission

I said "I am going to set up cameras and stuff in the back. You can watch the monitors and cameras or you can help me set up the equipment in the back. You can bring the cameras and stuff from the garage to me and stay in the house as much as possible. Whatever you want. Thanks for cooperating with us. I know it has been stressful and you have been through a lot. I patted her on the back and said, "You are a trooper." We worked until about 5:30 and the neighborhood started to get busy with people returning from work. I asked her, "Are you getting hungry?"

"Now that I think about it, Yes I am." she replied

"Anything in particular sound good?" I asked.

"Tacos." She stated.

"You are in luck. I think I have taco makings. Hey, look around the kitchen and the house while you are cleaning. And make a listing of the foods you like and what we need to get to make them. I can make stuff like soups or beans, or chili and we can eat whenever, or if you want you can cook. I would like for you to get involved as much as you want to take your mind off things. I know you will start getting cabin fever soon if you don't already have it. I think you would be safe in the back of the van. I'll talk to Ashley, or you can talk to Ashley tonight." We went to the kitchen, and I gathered taco makings. LoLo paid attention to where everything came from and then she shooed me out of the kitchen and made Tacos. Damn they were smelling good; my mouth was watering. We dug into the food, leaving enough so Ashley could munch when she got up.

We cleaned up the taco mess and then it was time to get Ashley up. We continued with the set-up of the equipment for monitoring the back of the house. There was a tree in the back yard that was helpful giving a different view and a different angle for the motion sensor. There wasn't much work remaining in the back when it was time to wake Ashley. LoLo heated up the taco meat and I gathered the rest of the fixing out of the fridge. Ashley made short work of the remaining tacos. She said she was stuffed. We had planned the food just right. I talked about my concerns about being vulnerable when going to the courthouse on the day of the trial. LoLo suggested some type of disguise. I tried to wrap my head around that and let it roll around in my brain. Whatever we decided on we had to get it rolling. I stayed up a little while helping Ashley finish the back. She could finish the last side of the house while I crashed.

She woke me up at 2 AM. LoLo was crashed in the other bedroom upstairs. She told me that she had finished with the perimeter set up. I nodded my head in acknowledgement. I showered and dressed, and we talked over what we needed to finish. A couple of motion activated cameras on the inside and we would be done. She wanted to talk and stayed up a little while. "JJ, this is harder than I thought. I want to touch and hold you, buy I know we promised to be professional." I went to her and wrapped my arms around her. She wrapped her arms around me. We stared into each other's eyes and hugged.

"I know baby, I feel the same way. When I come and wake you up, I just want to crawl in bed with you. We have to stay focused". I told her. Then I asked, "Have you given any more thought into what LoLo suggested?"

Her face slowly broke into a smile, then she said, "I don't know if you are going to like this, and it's out there a little. I think if we dressed as drag queens, then we could walk down the middle of the street, and no one would know who we are. In fact, most people would try and ignore us."

I nodded and said, "Yes, that idea is out there, but it just might work. We can park the van a couple of blocks away and strut our shit right into the court room. Other than a brash appearance, as long as we don't cause a disturbance in the courtroom, then we should be Ok. I'll start searching the ol' interweb tonight and I'll leave you a write up in the morning." I escorted her to the bedroom, gave her a kiss and told her to sleep well. I then went upstairs to the observation room everything was quiet. I started looking through the files that the prosecutor and the gang unit had given us. So far, the only clue I had was the name Tre. The gang unit also referred to a Tre (Tyronne Maxwell). He was the head of the enforcement arm of the set and crew that had ties to Marquel. According to gang unit information 7 UP (William Washington), Big D (Desmond Smith), and Spud (Tyreke Rivers), were the gang members that Tre was seen the most with. All of them had girlfriends, wives, or baby mommas close to each other in about a three-block area.

I couldn't find any bank accounts, no credit cards, no electronic financial footprint. This was a cash and carry crowd. I got into traffic cams and found their ride- a 1975 monte carlo. It was tricked out, clean, gold with black and red pinstriping. It had the spoked wheels looked like 22 inch rims. Cha Ching! I also found a Bodega close by and it appeared the women folk went to it on a regular basis. Groceries, lotto tickets, Liquor, the usual fare. There were usually some homies hanging out for incidentals that they didn't sell inside. I wrote up what I found out. I then went searching for disguise materials. I made a list of websites, colors, styles numbers, available sizes, etc. For what I thought we would need. Most of the stuff could be shipped in 3 - 5 business days. It surprised me as to how much of it was local. I guess I never gave it much thought, big town bigger number of queens...

I continued to monitor our cameras and sensors - everything quiet. I ate the leftover spaghetti. I love spaghetti sandwiches. It started getting light, the neighborhood was coming to life. People going to work, kids going to school. I was taking notes of who left when and who stayed behind. Understanding the pattern of life in this neighborhood was another part of our survival. We needed to move the van, so it didn't stay in the exact same spot. LoLo started to stir, she got up and went to the bathroom. I heard the toilet flush and then the shower start. Ashley came up about 20 minutes after LoLo.

"Good morning, ladies. How did you sleep?" I asked. I told them about my nighttime activities. I gave them the list I had made regarding our disguises. They chuckled, LoLo seemed more amused than Ashley. I had written my sizes down and suggested they have some fun and to use the company credit card. I also asked that I not be forced into wearing heels, if at all possible. My stumbling would not make for a believable Queen. That really got them laughing. I am sure mental images of me sprawled out from falling was the source of laughter.

I changed the subject and talked about the intelligence that I had gathered on the "Tre" and crew. Come to find out LoLo was very familiar with all the characters in the set. She was Marquel's girlfriend for a couple of years. When they broke up, her and Big D hooked up. She filled in a lot of the blanks in the intel. Apartment numbers, party habits, what time they usually go to bed, kids, all good information to know. I was surprised at the information LoLo was eager and willing to share. I believed her, what did she have to gain by lying to us.

The next four days were uneventful. Six hours on watch, six hours off, eat, sleep, repeat. We continued to familiarize ourselves with the information in the files. Ashley and LoLo went and made a grocery run. LoLo got out of the house but stayed in the back of the van to avoid being seen in public. The neighborhood traffic patterns were being better understood with each passing day. Trash day, who went to soccer practice, after school programs, bedtimes/ lights out, etc. Slight adjustments to the cameras and motion detectors were made to optimize the coverage.

In the middle of the afternoon, the motion sensors and motion activated camera on the front of the house alarm because of a gold and black chevy Caprice Classic doing a slow roll down the street. There are three occupants. They are wearing black shirts or jackets, and all have Mr. "T" starter sets (multiple gold necklaces). The hair on the back of my neck is standing up. I have LoLo come to the observation room. The car continues to slow roll around the block. On the second time around, I hear the unmistakable sound of an AK-47. Afghanistan flashbacks roll through my head; I grab LoLo and we hit the floor. I yell at her, "Think thin." As I cover her body with mine. The car speeds off. LoLo is fine, shaken but not injured. I go downstairs and check on Ashley. She is uninjured. I am pissed. I have to control my breathing to calm down. I go outside and look at the damage. There are about a dozen bullet holes mainly in the windows. I take getting shot at as personal. I am serious as a heart attack. Some ass hat is going to pay for this. I think to myself 'OK, bitches, it's on now. It's on like Donkey Kong!' I keep LoLo in the downstairs bedroom. I tell her to hide and I will come and get you. I don't want anyone to know that you are here. The police arrive they had received a call of shots fired. They ask what I know, and they want pictures and interview me and Ashley. They are here about 4 hours.

The whole time I am thinking 'How did they find us?' Nobody knows we are here. The only contact I have made is to send the DA an OK emoji and the conversation with the gang unit lieutenant. That's it - my phone. Those clever bastards got my number and used a find my phone app. Damn it! I told Ashley my deductions and she agreed. Not being sure if her phone was compromised, we decided to ditch them both and get fresh ones. I said let's go to Home Depot, get some plywood, screws, a drill gun, a saw, and bits. We can board up the front and make the house look unoccupied. We can call enterprise and get a rental car for the duration. We will park the van at a storage lot. After we park the van, we'll keep the car in the garage. We will get some fresh burner phones. I sent the DA a message 'We have been compromised - going dark - will deliver the package on time.' I then turned off my phone and crushed it. Ashley did the same.

We dumped the old phones in a trash can at Home Depot. We used a phone at home dept to arrange for an enterprise rental car. They could deliver in about 2 hours. We shop for what we need to board up the house and wait in the parking lot. We discussed the remaining aspects of the plan. We need to keep our trash in the garage and take it to dumpsters, we will also let the mail pile up. Any packages (like our disguises) bring them in ASAP. Look around first - minimize outside exposure. We decide to go to Walmart just down the street and get some new burner phones and buy some minutes to fire them up. When we got back to Home Depot and it wasn't long before the Enterprise vehicle arrived. Ashley dropped the enterprise guy off at their office.

I talked to LoLo about our plan and what her plans were after the trial. She said she wanted to go somewhere and make a fresh start. I nodded and told her that getting away from this would be the smartest move she could make. I told LoLo how I thought they found us. She said she knew Big Ds phone number. We could use the same app to find him. She said Tre and Big D are attached at the hip where you find one you will find the other. We got home and boarded up the front of the house. We even boarded up the kitchen window so that light would not escape when we used the kitchen. We didn't have to make too many cuts on the plywood and that kept the noise down. The neighbors didn't volunteer to help but, the curtains of the neighboring houses kept opening, and the prying eyes are ever present. Both the car and the van took off. We were going to dump the van off and a storage lot.

We came back in the car after dark. Thank goodness the garage door is fairly quiet to minimize the noise footprint as we came back. Ashley and LoLo were still wired up but finally went to bed. I stayed up monitoring the cameras and such all is quiet. I wrote the remaining plan down so Ashley could review it later and adjust as needed.

I need secondhand clothes to fit in the hood as a bum/ homeless person. I am going to the belly of the beast so I can see with my own eyes what is going down. - I can use a where's my phone app to find Big Ds phone. I will get his pattern. - I will borrow two city vehicles and crash one into the Monte Carlo. - I will shoot and kill the occupants. - Ashley will pick me and one survivor up in the other borrowed city vehicle. We will travel a few blocks and change vehicles into the Enterprise rental and come home. - I will interrogate the survivor of the Monte Carlo and find out the names of the shooters in the Caprice Classic. -

I awakened Ashley at 8 AM. LoLo was still asleep. I talked through the plan with Ashley. She didn't see any big problems at first glance. I asked her point blank, "This is going to get hairy; do you have a problem with pulling the trigger?"

She looked me square in the eyes. She swallowed hard and said, "I knew this day would come eventually, I struggled with this decision before I talked to Roberto. Now that I have been shot at and my cherry has been popped so to speak, I won't have an issue with busting a cap in these bastards."

I nodded and said, "Good, I needed to hear it from you and make sure. I need you to use subsonic ammo and a sound suppressor anytime we go out." She nodded in understanding. I reminder her about our disguises coming in and asked her to go to a secondhand store today. You will have to let LoLo stay here with me. She can't be seen. Have her watch the cameras and such. Come get me if anything looks out of the ordinary.

I must get some sleep. I am bushed. She went to the bedroom with me and kissed me goodnight. I crashed.

I woke up to laughter. LoLo and Ashley were in the living room. Much of the drag queen disguises had arrived and they were trying on bits and pieces having a good time in the process. I smiled watching the two of them. It was good to see them smile in the middle of this. Ashley saw me and said, "We are going to be the three peas, Penelope, Patty, and Pauline. Which one do you want to be?"

"Well," I said, "If those are my only options, then I guess I'll be Pauline."

Ashley said, "Your bum disguise is in the kitchen. I read through and thought about your plan. I think it will work. Be sure you take note of any video cameras in the area. What vehicles were you planning on borrowing?"

"I was planning on borrowing a school bus and an animal control van. I was going to crash the car with the school bus and have you pick us up in the van. I just need to be in full tac with a face covering and gloves." I said. She nodded. I continued, "Let me get something to eat and you can drop me off in the hood. In the meantime, see if you can locate the desired vehicles. I'll call you when and where to pick me up."

While I was eating, LoLo said, "Big D always had a thing about eating dinner with the family, even when it was only me and him. Six o'clock right on the dot he would come home through the front door, expecting dinner to be hot and on the table. He would have a cow if it wasn't. I am pretty sure that hasn't changed."

"Thank you," I told her.

I finished eating and got my homeless disguise on. I had my burner and a suppressed 9mm. I had to scuff and dirty up my tac boots. Ashley did good on the clothes. They covered me good and were loose enough over my tac gear. A long over coat finished the look. The motor compartment of the rental car was dirty enough to give me the grimy look I wanted. Ashley dropped me off a few blocks away and I meandered to the area that LoLo had mentioned. I had found a paper bag and an empty bottle in a trash can as a fashion accessory. I found an out of the way but in plain sight vantage point. I loaded up the find my phone app and put in Big D's phone number. Abracadabra, a map popped up. There was a little red dot showing movement around the 'hood. About 10 minutes until six the little red dot started getting closer to my present location. Viola, Sure enough, just like LoLo said, at five till six, a gold Monte Carlo pulled up and a large black man I assumed to be Big D got out of the car. Hugs and fist bumps and gang signs given between the car's occupants.

I took a few photos with the phone. Big D went inside the apartment building and the car took off. There was a little wormy looking dude that stayed outside the building. The red dot quit moving. I turned off the phone to save battery. About two hours later the gold Monte Carlo reappeared to the sound of MC Hammer's 'Can't Touch This' blasting instead of a horn honking. I thought that was original. Big D came out of the apartment building. Only after all the appropriate hugs, fist bumps and flashes of gang signs did he get into the car. Off they sped. I walked around taking notes of cameras. There are a lot of cameras around. You got the "RING" doorbell type cameras. More and more people got those dash cams, Businesses got those cams inside and outside the business. Homeowners have camera outside besides the doorbell cams. Then you got traffic cams, and some cities have hot spot cams for high crime areas. The little wormy dude was replaced with another little wormy dude about 4 hours later. I went from shadow to shadow making notes. I made note of twenty-seven cameras in a three block area, shit that's a lot of cameras. I would need more ammo. I messaged Ashley to pick me up in the morning 6:00 same spot. The gold Monte Carlo reappeared about midnight. I walked along my proposed escape route there were fewer cameras. I would need to eliminate 12 cameras outside apartment building, bodega exterior, and escape route. I had that much ammo. I was able to plink out the cameras and police my brass without making too much noise. The incessant barking dogs all over the 'hood hid most of my movements and the sounds of the shots. The plan was shaping up. Hopefully Ashley would be able to locate vehicles.

Ashley met me at our spot and brought me a breakfast burrito. That was the best breakfast burrito I have ever eaten. We talked about what I learned and what I did. She found the parking lots where they parked the busses and the animal control vehicles. They weren't that far apart. "Do you think we can boost a van today?" I asked. I" can boost a bus right before we hit them. The bus routes should be completed by about 5:00 PM. If you can get a van, then we can pre stage the car, and the drop me off at the bus barn. Give me about 7 minute head start and then we will make our escape."

She said, "Yes I can get a van. I can even pre-stage the car if you want."

"That would be great. Park the van a couple of houses away from our house." I said.

I showed LoLo the pictures I had taken to confirm Big D's identity. She confirmed it was Big D.

I went home and crashed. Ashley woke me at 2:00 PM. She smiled and said, "We are ready baby."

"What?" I asked confused.

"I decided to stage the van and bring the car back. This way if the cops find it, they will have it towed back to the lot. I can drop you off at the bus barn and come back and get the van That will give you the time differential you want at the crash site." she explained. I nodded in understanding.

LoLo was in the kitchen and asked if anyone was hungry, I nodded, and she started making ham and cheese sandwiches. I ran through what Ashley told me. "So, let me understand what you said. You boosted a van, and it is sitting at our rendezvous point." I said. She nodded. "And you are going to drop me at the bus barn where I am going to boost a bus. I am then going to proceed to the crash site and eliminate the enemy and capture one Tre the brain. You will pick us up and proceed back to the rendezvous point where we will transfer Mr. Tre to the car and bring him here to interrogate. Is that right?" I asked.