Varying shades of clean and dirty

Who: Danny, Jakob and Sam
Where: Police HQ, the phone, then Fontaine Park
When: morning

Somewhere between meeting with Eris and kicking out his call-girl before sleep claimed him, an idea had settled on Jakob. He'd needed one, to be sure; it was only in his rare and unsettled moods that he bothered with an escort for companionship, after all. But Stockard had bothered him, had struck a nerve deep within for her presumptuousness. And maybe Jakob himself had been presumptuous too, for assuming his plans would go undisturbed, or that his wishes were tantamount, but the mood remained. Even after the idea had touched down, it clung to him.

He could at least be grateful to it for keeping his time spent sleeping to a minimum. Jakob had risen before dawn, literally burning the old plans he'd devised and spending a few precious hours creating new bits of 'proof' to cement his new ones, and when he was finally done? He sat back to survey his work with a smile; the roster of names, the addresses and sparse street maps... it was going to be beautiful day, weather be damned.

Freshly showered and dressed for work, Jakob was lingering now by his desk with the phone cradled to his ear, listening as it buzzed and connected to the other end, to Sam's apartment. Even as he listened? He was watching the receiving doors that fed into the department floor, looking beyond the booking desks and scanning each blue-clad patrolman as they entered, waiting for Danny to show himself. He needed to catch both for this to work seamlessly, to thrust them into this situation together and force some fleeting trust that, of course, stemmed from him.

At first, Sam thought the alarm clock was ringing and when she lifted her head from the depths of pillows and blankets, she was more annoyed to see that it was her phone that was doing the ringing. At... seven thirty in the morning on a Sunday. Thoroughly unacceptable and that's what she said to the person on the other end. "You better have a good reason for this or I will track you down and beat you with something leaden and heavy."

"Good morning to you too, Tyler," Jakob greeted sparsely, helpless against a little smile from the woman's tone, "I have a very good reason, I assure you." Out of habit and a full awareness of how many people could be listening, Jakob glanced surreptitiously over his shoulder before he spoke again. "Get up, get dressed, and excuse yourself from your overseers. We need to meet in person, it's urgent." He didn't often command people like that, but right now? Jakob needed to create a true sense of panic as his mood. If he came off as rattled, he knew she would listen.

Sam frowned as she listened to Jakob speak and checked her clock again. Yep. Still the wrong end of eight o'clock but it sounded important and Jakob sounding panicked was strange. "Not a problem. Where are you at?" A sudden thought occurred to her as she made her way through to the land of the properly living. "Is something wrong with the raids?"

The best way to play a role, in Jakob's experience, was to play it so devotedly that you nearly believed it yourself. So he let his eyes darken and his jaw knot up at one corner as he went a moment without answering, instead watching the flow of incoming traffic for Danny. "I can't talk about it here," he finally said, "Can you meet me? I have someone I need you to speak with. I can pick you up if you'd like."

She carried the phone around with her while she looked for clothes, pausing in her search for socks. "It's not your mother, is it?" she joked, referring to their discussions of her own family. It was her attempt to lighten the mood because, well, it was much too early to freak out about things. Some of that was more than likely due to the extra strong 'medication' she'd downed the night before that was still coursing through her system. "Because I'm not sure I'm ready to take 'that step' in our relationship."

"I'm at the station, Sam," Jakob muttered tersely, "And no, it's not my mother. If that was all, this would be nothing. Your own kin would be a pittance next to this." Actually, if this worked? Jakob suspected that Sam's kin might laud her as a hero, along with the rest of the city. "A fellow officer actually, someone who'll be working with us." He looked down to his coffee for a moment, studying the cream congealing on the surface and liking the mental comparison to this city. "How much time will you need?"

Interesting. "Give me half an hour," Sam said, running through her head of everything she needed to do. "Make it forty if you want me to get coffee because if you're at the station, that probably means that you've been there for awhile, and are drinking the half-rotten sludge that they offer. What super secret meeting place would you like to gather at?"

"Fontaine, the bandshell," Jakob instructed succinctly, figuring that forty minutes would be more than enough time for him to gather McKinnon and coerce the patrolman into coming with him. "And if we have to refer to anything pertaining to your family? I'll be tactful. Travel safely, Tyler," he said in parting, eyes lighting up as he spotted his other mark.

Danny was still slightly hurting from the previous night, still wondering about the people he'd wound up spending the evening with, but what mattered was that he was awake and moving. He arrived at the station house on time, but dressed in plainclothes, bag with his uniform slung over his shoulder, headed for the locker room. The nervous anticipation for the raids that were supposed to go down today had him on a high alert of sorts, one eye on the look out for Jakob.

He didn't have to look far, that was for certain. Jakob was waiting, and the moment he caught the sort of vaguely slouching posture of Danny, he dropped the phone back onto the cradle and moved to intercept the other cop. "McKinnon," Jakob greeted as he caught Danny, "Don't bother changing just yet, I've already spoken to your shift supervisor. We have matters to tend to." He nodded past Danny, the way he'd just come from, to indicate that they were leaving the station behind.

Danny had seen him coming so he wasn't surprised when Jakob addressed him, but he was a little surprised when Jakob nodded towards the way out. "Everything in order Hollis? Or should I be concerned." He was feeling a little confused, but like most emotions it read out on his face as anger. Still, he turned towards the station house door, assuming he'd find out eventually just what was going on.

For just a moment, Jakob allowed himself a thin-lipped, strained smile that was aimed at Danny before he shook his head. "Be concerned," he said as he started walking, "And come with me. We have a meeting to attend. It shouldn't take overly long, but it is of dire importance." This? This almost soothed the sting of his meticulous plans being dashed against the proverbial rocks.

Shifting the bag on his shoulder, Danny followed Jakob willingly, although he couldn't help but deepen his frown at the news. He was already somewhat concerned and now he was thinking of Janey and his promise that everything would be fine. The assumption that all would be fine was still there, but he didn't like that the window got smaller. "Who are we meeting with?" he asked as they left the station.

"My partner," Jakob answered, "Detective Tyler. I don't know if you've made her acquaintance yet, she's been on stress leave as of late." He almost made a joke about how stressful it was to work with him, but in the end, Jakob just wouldn't let himself make light of what Sam had endured. It was a crass violation, and on some level it still rankled him. "Her temporary leave and your... lack of rank, forgive the phrasing, were why I came to both of you with this scenario. And those reasons are why we can still succeed, despite certain developments," he explained, leading Danny out of the station and towards his car.

Danny knew who Samantha Tyler was. Everyone around knew the chic cop who'd made detective. Before Danny made detective. That mixed with the "lack of rank" comment gave Danny a rather annoyed look. "What developments are those exactly?" he asked.

Jakob didn't breathe a word as he moved for his car, breezing around foot traffic on the street with a look of focus plain in his dark eyes. When he finally reached the door, he looked Danny's way as he unlocked the doors and popped the driver's side wide. "Developments best spoken of with both of you present," he said succinctly, climbing into the car and starting the engine.

Oh good, so now Danny had to wait without a real answer. Frustration really showing on his face, he moved around to his side of the car. Pulling his door open with one hand, he patted the side of the bag with the other. A small sigh of relief, he did still have a flask in his gear bag, and if it was there, odds were it was also full. Danny was pretty sure he was going to need it as well.

Even if he didn't need it? It would likely make for a good way to bond with Sam, given her own penchant for the flask she carried some days. Jakob figured it might engender some recognition between them at least, privately hoping so as he drove to Fontaine Park without a word. Parking, all that Jakob gave Danny was a nod for him to follow before he left the car behind and headed into the park, all wary glances as he led the way to the rotunda, hoping that Sam would've beaten them to it.

Sam had indeed beaten both Danny and Jakob to the park, sitting on a bench sipping at a large cup of coffee while she waited. The bruises on her face were still there but cleared up enough that for this outing, she felt no particular drive to cover them, although her hair was down. She wasn't looking to show them off. The steps of her comrades were audible, considering some of the ice on the ground lent itself to slipping and scraping and she stood, comfortable in a thick, plain black trenchcoat and watched the two of them come up. "Nice day for a get together," she said with a smile. "Brought extra if you're interested." Two other cups of fresh, hot Nighthawk's coffee sat in a carrier on the bench.

Danny didn't answer but did take his coffee of the bench, moving to put space between him and them. He knew they were partners and he had a good feeling that this was going to wind up being the two damn detectives versus the beat cop. "We're all here now, you wanna tell us what the hell is going on?" Reaching into his bag he pulled out the flask, dumping some into the coffee cup, in enough of a mood to not care that they saw him do it.

Smiling to Sam as he moved over to the bench and took a coffee, Jakob paced away a bit with it. He popped the lid free, blowing on steam and sipping carefully, feigning the part of a wary man watching for onlookers. When enough time had passed that he couldn't have 'seen' any, he looked back to Danny with a strain in his eyes. "We have an informant in the station feeding intelligence to one of the syndicates," he said first, "Rather, more than one... I believe the commissioner himself is on one of their payrolls, possibly several other senior officers as well."

Sam had flashed a quick look to Jakob while Danny dumped some alcohol into his drink. Great. She was going to be working with a lush. How fun. "The commissioner himself?" Sam asked, sipping her coffee and leaning against the worn post of the rotunda. "Do you know what departments they seem to be most common in?" Certain departments had a certain type of person. Homicide tended to be those who enjoyed problem solving. Puzzles. Who didn't want to track down the serial killers. Vice tended to be those with the strategy or the heavier tempers. She eyed Danny. "Which reminds me, I don't think I've made your acquaintance." He was Danny McKinnon. She knew that, but she didn't know him well nor had she ever talked to him.

Danny snorted into his coffee a little, blowing on it before taking a gulp. "The comish? Seriously? What makes you think it goes up that high? Besides the obvious fact that anyone with any power in this town is bound to be dirty." Taking another gulp he turned his eyes on Sam. "McKinnon. Danny McKinnon."

The look that Sam had given was disregarded with a slight shake of Jakob's head as he recalled Sam and her own flask on the day they'd been partnered, and he would've smiled over the memory if it didn't threaten to ruin his act. "I requested file clearances from Vice and Trafficking to build our operation, from the heads of both departments. Aside from them and the two of you, no one knew of my intent. But last night? Last night the commissioner himself requested me. He made it crystal clear that we were not to plan any raid on the locales I had targeted, or to even consider a task force in the first place. I spoke with my contacts in Vice, they were clueless about his involvement." He huffed out a breath that fogged up the air, still pacing a little circuit as he spoke. "So... either they're better liars than the last dozen convictions I've landed, or someone is selling us out. Whatever the case may be, I do not intend to let them stop us. What's more... I intend to draw them out."

"You're kidding," Sam said, hardly being able to believe it. "The old man actually told you not to do that. That's..." she gave a long low whistle, looking at her partner with a mixture of amusement and disbelief. "Could've at least tried a little, dontcha think?" It was mostly a rhetorical question. "So does this entail my first chance of potentially aggressive negotiations or what? I'm in the presence of two of our fair city's heroes after all and I'm guessing you wouldn't have brought in McKinnon if this was going to be something low-key and casual." She tossed a small, friendly smirk in Danny's direction. He seemed kind of uptight. Or maybe he was nursing a hangover.

This time Danny did offer Sam a curt smile. At least she knew better than to doubt him. "So you think someone leaked it to the big guy. Who besides us did you even tell about this? Because if I remember correctly you drug me out of my house at night to tell me about it in order to keep up the information out of the wrong hands." Danny took another gulp of the coffee, enjoying the mixture of the heat and the burn of the alcohol.

"I was careful," Jakob explained, "I did the minimal paperwork to request man hours and requisition equipment, to apply for search and seizure warrants, and I filed every piece of it myself. So our list of suspects? Processing clerks, department supervisors, duty clerks... judges." He was fairly sure he'd given Eris dirt on one of the judges that the Konoviches owned, that could pan out in the long run. "Without knowing more, accusing anyone would expose all three of us, given that I've kept both of your names out of my paperwork for the time being," he elaborated, "Which was beneficial in hindsight, as I think we should conduct an entirely different raid."

So what they spoke of the other day was officially no longer in the cards, but something different was in the works. Sam cocked her head, watching Jakob closely. She trusted the guy and she wondered, exactly, who would be on the chopping block for Plan B and if her own family loyalties still applied. Although, she had already said that she was in anyway. "Different plan, same basic outcome?"

Danny didn't answer, he just watched Jakob, waiting for more information. There wasn't much use jumping into things, the guy was right about making accusations without more than a glimmer of an idea.

Jakob had to smirk now, loving when the truth could apply to several things. "A better outcome," he promised, nodding back the way they came, "In my car, I have the files you'll both need for tonight. Our timetable won't be changing. We have warrants secured from a source I trust, officers who'll be reporting in at shift-change to both of you, and information I know to be trustworthy. The two of you will be leading a squad to the docks."

Finally stopping his pacing as he moved back to them, Jakob kept his voice low despite the fact that they were alone out here. "There's a string of warehouses belonging to the Bartelucci family, and a neighboring one the Chinese own. Tonight, those Chinese are expecting a freighter in. Port authority will handle the ship, I need both of you to handle the warehouses themselves, as well as any workers in them," he detailed patiently, "I, meanwhile, will be watching our 'brothers' back at the station, and the moment one of them gets a call about this move? We know who our leak is, and I will deal with them. What's more, the other families of the DiGiovanni may take this chance to strike Konovich and Bartelucci alike. I've heard that the Giacomo clan in particular bears old grudges towards them."

Had Danny not been sitting there, Sam would've objected to this. Wouldn't her own family ties put this investigation in danger? Lotus however... "How much backup are we looking at? I don't know about McKinnon here, but I've never done this before and those warehouses aren't small." She wasn't so sure about this, although storming in with the troops sounded. Not to mention she wasn't too entirely sure which warehouse they were supposed to be going after.

"So we run the risk of hitting three families with one raid?" Danny asked, still not sure how the plan had changed. Nor how he felt about attacking the family. They knew him, they owned him. "I know some good men, trustworthy. Some of them hit Babylon with us, but there are others. I could round them up," he offered, feeling a need to contribute something other than a surly look.

"When we leave, I'll give you the roster I've put together. Any names that overlap, you should assign to key positions," Jakob answered Danny first, "We'll have roughly twenty men at our disposal, perhaps a few more if McKinnon can vouch for them, which should be sufficient to control the waterfront area. With any luck, whoever you encounter won't decide to be hostile, and if they are? So much more indication that they have something to hide." The Lotus would be, Jakob knew that much. They didn't directly control any cops, and whatever they had in those warehouses was theirs. "In an ideal situation, we're hitting two families. Played properly, the DiGiovanni will distance themselves from the Barteluccis until this affair is settled."

Sam took a seat on the bench that Danny was sitting on, on the opposite end so there was plenty of space between the two of them. "Lotus aside," she said the name with clear distaste, shifting her head reflexively so her hair covered the still bruised up eye. Closer up, the damage on her face was much clearer. "With the DiGiovanni distancing themselves, the Barteluccis will be scattered. Vulnerable for the first time, especially with the potential that they have leaks in the wall."

That worked out better for him, with the family pulling themselves away. Looking over at Sam when she sat down, he noticed the bruising before she covered it up with her hair. What sort of leave had she actually been on? Danny was pretty sure if that was something that had happened in the line of duty then it would have been around the station. And the boys would have retaliated. "What happens if we don't find anything of use? Not that I'm doubting you Hollis, but if you've got leaks..."

"They have leaks as well, I assure you," Jakob answered, shaking his head at Danny. "My change in plans only occurred a few hours ago, and we move tonight. If someone in the department was aware of my intent, they would have precious little time to do something about it. And with the locale we're hitting? They would have a great deal to relocate in that precious little time. Some day, when you have the free time McKinnon, go down to the archives and read old vice cases pertaining to the Barteluccis. They are not the brains of the operation, and I assure you that we'll find something. Armed dock workers alone would be sufficient for a thorough search." He smirked faintly, slurping his coffee for a moment.

"But I understand your apprehension. This plan is dangerous, and it is working on a small timeframe, but I believe we have no other chance to succeed. And when we do? I'll also be building evidence against our dear commissioner." He hoped neither of them died, though Jakob knew some people would do so tonight. Gangster and police alike, even. But Sam and Danny? Both were too useful to him alive. "If you wish to step away, say so now. Take a personal day, forget what we've spoken of, and avoid tomorrow's paper.

Sam shrugged, looking down at her coffee lid. "Well, I already said I was in plan one. Don't really see a point in backing out now," she said honestly. She wondered if they could get into City Hall today to get any known blueprints of the warehouses that they would be hitting. She'd rather go in with a general idea of the lay of the land than completely blind.

Danny wasn't happy and he was quiet for a moment, just sipping on his coffee to avoid having to speak. Sure this might just be a thing for Sam, but the chic cop wasn't married. Danny had a wife to come home to. Still, he wasn't about to back out now, being talked down to or not. "Chic cop's got a point," he finally said, not matching his eyes with either hers or Hollis'. "And no offense to you," he directed at Sam, "but the guys you're going to pull into this last minute? They won't be as willing to do it for a detective as they would for one of theirs. They trust me, and you need them." Which also meant if something happened to them, it was on his head. Danny really hoped he didn't have to visit any families to deliver bad news this week.

"Her name is Sam, McKinnon. Or Tyler if you prefer," Jakob corrected curtly, "And yes, she does have a point. As do you. I'll trust you with selecting patrolmen, and while I have the warrants and blueprints from the city planners? I'll also leave the particulars of approach to you, unless you'd like some advice." He had a bad feeling about this, but Jakob wouldn't back down because of that. It wasn't as if he'd be in the line of fire, after all. "I, meanwhile, will have my work cut out for me. I've never tried to ferret out an informant among our own ranks before," he said with a flicker of a smile, "It should prove an entirely different sort of challenge."

"And you certainly love challenges," Sam told Jakob with a little chuckle, glancing up at him from under her hair. It was nice to hear Jakob come to her defense, in a roundabout way. She was still feeling a little subdued but she was kind of pissed at Danny, because 'no offense' or not, the guy had a chip on his shoulder. That was pretty clear. "If McKinnon feels that my leadership can't be followed though, well, I'm sure we'll figure something out."

"Not you specifically," Danny offered, not bother by being scolded on the chic cop comment. It's not like Sam had offered her name after he'd given his. That was ignoring the fact that he did already know her name. "Your rank. If Hollis came to them this morning and informed them they were walking into a less than everyday raid they'd be hesitant. They'll do it, but they'll be watching you as closely as they watch the situation. I tell them we're doing it, and your on point it goes a little smoother. I did the same thing with Haas on the Babylon raid, and everyone knows that bastard's God complex won't let him jaywalk, that the idea of him being crooked is madness."

Jakob only nodded in agreement, looking between them in consideration. Though neither would probably take it as a compliment, there were similarities here, and it was part of his choices. Both were stubborn but willing, and if they could find a level to work at together? They could even do well at this. "He's right, Tyler, especially given the expectations many of our fellows have of you given your gender. They will be looking for you to fail, if only to reaffirm their doubts. McKinnon can keep them in line, you can direct them. Workin together? You can focus them far more efficiently than a single commander." He grinned in a way that was almost warm, definitely encouraging, and nodded for both of them to follow. "Now, unless we have more to discuss? I can retrieve the necessary papers from my car and return Danny to the station so that he might speak to the others. Any preparations either of you wish to make, I suggest you see to them quickly."

Sam nodded. "Sounds good." She still sounded a little subdued, but she was preoccupied now, trying to think of the logistics of this whole thing. If someone died, it was going to be on her head. Every injury. It's not something she particularly liked but she said nothing of this as she stood up, draining the rest of her coffee and tossed it into the trashcan. "I'm actually headed into the station anyway. I wanted to finish up some open paperwork." The Tang Case was left unsaid, but implied. She was point on that particular investigation, and with the suspect... gone, she needed to finish it up.

"Works for me," Danny said. He had little to do besides rounding up the boys and trying to get some of his beat walked today. There would be the expected push from the men and the response to working with Sam, but Danny would handle it. They respected him, they trusted him. This was going to work out. It had to work out.