Chicago (A Jay Halstead Story)

Chapter 29

The rest of the ride to the docks was quiet. Jay came to a quick stop and jumped out of the car. I hesitated, watching the unit gather around what I assumed was Marco's body. Erin looked back towards the car before walking over. I opened my door and stepped out.

"Hey. You don't have to do this right now."

"Yes I do. I need to know for sure if it's him."

She nodded her head and pursed her lips, walking back to everyone else. I slowly followed. When my presence was noticed, they all stepped back, revealing the lifeless body. The sun was starting to go down but it was still light enough to see that it definitely was Marco. Luca definitely did a number on him. He had nothing but boxers on. There were marks all over his body. He looked skinnier, which means he was starving him. The wound over his chest had been burned closed. I couldn't stop the images of what Luca was doing that night, what I did that night, from flooding my mind. I ran back near the car and threw up. Jay was next to me in an instant, holding my hair and rubbing my back. I heard Erin's quiet voice.

"I told you she shouldn't have come here."

"She would've seen it eventually. What else was I supposed to do?"

I ran my hand across my mouth and sat up, shrugging Jay's hand away.

"I'm fine. It's definitely him. So if you don't need me anymore, I'd like to leave. I can call a cab if I need to."

Jay looked at Erin who shook her head. "Jay can catch up with us later. Go get some rest." She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around me. "I don't really know what to say other than it's over. Hopefully you can... sleep better now."

I patted her back and pulled away, my lips lifting in a half assed smile for no more than a second.

"Thanks. I'll come in tomorrow to help with whatever is needed to close this case. See ya."

Jay and I got in his car and I refused to look at where Marco's body was lying.

"Still want food?"

I shook my head and curled up, trying to make myself as small as possible, staying quiet the whole ride. Once we got to Jay's apartment I took a hot shower, mostly just trying to calm myself down, and went straight to bed.

The next morning, after several attempts from Jay to stay home, I was sitting at my desk in the station while Hank was talking to someone from Homicide about Marco. He told Hank he would let us know if he needed anything else, then disappeared down the stairs. Jin walked in shortly after.

"Hey I just got the autopsy report on Marco. Looks like whoever had him was trying to starve him out. So they had him for a while. He was covered in marks, but some were as old as a week or so. I mean they did everything. Cut him, burned him, beat him."

"They wanted him to suffer." Erin's voice cracked as she side glanced me.

I looked down at my desk, shuffling papers trying to distract myself.

"That's not the weirdest thing though. He had a wound on his chest. On the left? It had been burned closed. They did an X-ray and found a diamond ring."

Glancing up, I saw Hank look back at me.

"They tested the ring for fingerprints."

"What did they find?" Al questioned.

"Marco's and Cora's, which of course makes sense."

"Who else's?" Hank pushed.

"That's what doesn't make sense." Jin looked over at me. "There were no other fingerprints."

I could see Hank balling his fist, a hard look on his face. He rushed over to my desk.

"Where did you go last Saturday?"

"I told you, to give the ring to Luca."

"Then why are his fingerprints not on it?"

"I stopped wearing it a few weeks ago. It was getting too tight so I put it back in the box it came in. I gave the whole thing to him. I don't know what he did with it after I left."

Hank leaned down, breathing heavily. "Did you know Luca had Marco?"

"What makes you think Luca did this?"

"BECAUSE YOU GAVE HIM A RING THAT WAS FOUND IN OUR DEAD GUY." Hanks face was turning red. Antonio walked over, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Come on, Voight. Give it a rest." He shook him off.

"When's the last time you saw Marco?"

I leaned back, challenging him. "Maybe we should go in the interview room. Might as well make this a real interrogation."

"ANSWER ME." I thought he might burst a blood vessel with how angry he was.

I gritted my teeth. "The last time I saw Marco was the day he beat the hell out of me, killed my baby, and left me to die. Happy?"

Hank stepped back, shaking his head but not saying a word. I stood up and grabbed my purse, slamming the chair under the desk.

"Where the hell are you going?"

"I'm going HOME."

"You can't go back yet." Erin voiced.

"Why? Marco is dead now. I couldn't go back because of him right? No one else is gonna come after me."

"What makes you say that?" Hank questioned, voice full of suspicion.

"Because if Luca did do this, Marco's guys either fled or joined Luca. If someone else did it, they're all laying low to protect themselves. I know this family a hell of a lot better than you do. If Marco's dead, I'm safe to go home and that's where I'm going."

Jay stepped forward, starting to protest. I threw my hand up to stop him. "Save it Jay!"

With that, I turned and rushed down the stairs and out the front door.