(Chapter 4)
I walked into the gym, to see Jay and Antonio there.
"Jazzercise is like, a block South." Jay joked.
"Yeah,nice muscle tee." I commented.
"This is perfectly acceptable attire for the boxing gym." Jay said.
"No,absolutely. And the bonus is you don't have to change later when you break-dance." I said and Antonio laughed.
"Voight's kid." Antonio said when he looked to the door.
"Justin." I called him over. "This is Antonio and Jay. I work with them. Antonio's buddy owns the gym, hence the 30% discount."
"20%. Nice try." Antonio exclaimed.
"All right."
"How you doing?" Jay asked Justin and stuck his hand out, but Justin didn't shake it.
"I gotta make some calls." Justin said and walked away.
"He's one of my best friends. I'm just trying to keep him out of trouble." I explained.
"Good luck." Antonio said.
"Just give him a shot." I pleaded. I kicked the boxing bag and walked away.
*****
Jay and I drove to work.
"All I'm saying is Justin looks like an uphill battle." Jay said as we got out of the car.
"The kid lost his mother and then did a year in prison. He just needs to get his bearings." I remarked.
"Did you see the attitude he gave me in the gym?" Jay asked.
"If I had just gotten out of Stateville and had been made to shake hands with a bunch of cops, I would've had the exact same attitude." I replied.
"I don't think it's so much I'm a cop as much as Justin thinks I'm your boyfriend." Jay teased with a smile.
"You wish." I chuckled.
"You wish." Jay said.
"No,you wish." I said as I playfully shoved his shoulder.
*****
"What do we got?" Hank asked as Lindsay, and me walked in to the hospital.
"Female, white, jut got out of surgery." Burgess replied.
"I heared female white knocked you around pretty good." Lindsay said to Atwater.
"Whatever she was on gave her the strength of ten men." Atwater exclaimed.
"No ID. All she had on her was this plane ticket." Burgess said and handed me the ticket. "She landed at O'Hare this morning from Cabo San Lucas."
"Just how much cocaine does she have on her?" I asked.
"No,not on her. Inside her. 30 balloons in her stomach." Burgess revealed. What the hell?
*****
We went into the woman's hospital room,there a doctor explained the situation.
"Normally, when cops drag screamers in here, we just give them a haldol cocktail and send them into detox, but she started convulsing, and I knew right away this was different." The Doctor said.
"Welcome to Chicago, distribution center of the midwest." I said.
"We removed 29 condoms full of cocaine, though she swallowed 30. One broke open and started to dissolve into her stomach. The drug leaked into her bloodstream, causing psychosis, so I ordered emergency surgery." The Doctor explained. "Never ceases to amaze me what people will do for money."
"Well, sometimes, people don't feel like they have a choice." Erin sighed.
"I tested the residue on the broken balloon. It's 89% pure.That's the highest grade I've ever seen." The Doctor said.
"All these must be 50k street value." I said.
"Easy." Voight said.
"So what do we think?" Erin asked. "Cartel's getting smart recruiting all-American types?"
"They're full of air pockets. That's why they busted. It's amateur hour. Cartel wouldn't be this careless." I exclaimed as I inspected the balloons.
"We need to question her. How soon till she's conscious?" Hank asked.
"Two,maybe three hours." The Doctor replied.
"All right, have Jin contact the TSA at O'Hare. See if we can get an ID on this girl." Hank said.
*****
"All right, so our girl in the E.R. is Amber Morris. Amber and her three friends here are all undergrads at Central Chicago University. This is who we're looking for." Jay explained the case to the whole team back at the district.
"We checked Amber's Facebook page. There's pictures of them living it up in Cabo, but not just from this trip. Amber's been down there twice in the last three months." I added.
"First time, she did the run herself. This time, she recruited friends." Antonio said.
"We gotta assume all these girls are mules and ingested the same type of balloons packed with coke." Voight exclaimed.
"You guys, I ran down those girls' addresses. All three live on campus." Jin said.
"We gotta move." Antonio said and everyone stood up.
After Caroline left, Hank stopped Jay on his way out.
"You like working in this unit, you keep it in your pants." Voight exclaimed.
"I didn't know it was out." Jay sassed.
"Caroline's off limits. End of discussion." Hank said,firmly.
*****
We rolled out to the location. We went into the doormrooms.
"Sarah Hines. Chicago PD." Jay announced as I knocked on the door. When she didn't answer I checked the handle. The door was open so we went in.
We checked the room but she wasn't there.
"Well, she made it home." I said, as I checked the date on the paper on the suitcase.
"We're looking for two white males. Could still be in the area. They got our girls." Hank said in the radio.
*****
"All right,Hank, jut keep us posted on the van." I said and hung up the phone. Halstead and I were sitting in the hospital's waiting room, waiting for Amber to wake up.
"So messed up...these girls out there with no idea." I sighed.
"Yeah."
"I'm gonna need a drink when this is done. What do you say?" I suggested.
"Oh, I don't think your dad would like that." Jay exclaimed. My dad? What is he talking about?
"What are you talking about?" I asked.
"What do you think I'm talking about?" Jay asked back. I thought for a second...Hank.
Before I could respond a nurse walked up to us. "She's awake now. You can come and see her."
"I can't believe I'm in here." Amber said.
"Believe it,Amber. And whoever you were smuggling for just kidnapped your friends. So if you don't give up who's behind this and we find your friends dead, you're gonna be facing narcotics-induced homicide all by your lonesome." I exclaimed.
"I can't." Amber cried and I crossed my arms in fron of my chest.
"Are you listening? You're lucky we found you. Now, all you're gonna have is a scar on your stomach, but your friends, they'll likely O.D. and wind up in some alley." Jay said leaning up on the wall
"And if that happens, I promise you you will never forgive yourself. You need to help us save them, Amber." I claimed.
"I loved him." Amber sniffled.
"Sweetheart, the guy that used you for this, he doesn't love you." I said.
"I did it once, and I was fine. Then he promised my friends 5 grand each to go. It was my boyfriend's idea, him and his brother." Amber let out.
"We're putting out an investigative alert on Sean and Brendan Collins. They're the dealers we're looking for." I said to Hank and Antonio after we came out of Amber's room.
"Sean's the boyfriend. Amber says him and his brother, they hang out at a tattoo shop called 'Underground Ink'. That's where they sling the product." Jay explained.
"Good work." Hank said.
"I'll get Olinsky and Ruzek to set up on this tattoo shop." I heard Antonio say as I walked away.
*****
"The Collins brothers are known thugs from Bridgeport. Both have records for armed robbery and aggravated battery." Voight exclaimed. We were back at the district.
"So they've graduated to drug smuggling using naive college girls." Jay said.
"Had uniforms check their IKAs. These guys are in the wind." Erin added.
"DMV came back that Brendan Collins owns a black Ford van." Dawson said.
"I'm assuming that these brothers are using throwaway phones now that they know Amber's been arrested." Jin said.
"All right, keep digging. Get me any known associates." Voight said.
"Hey, we need to talk." I said to him, and we walked into his office.
"The overprotective father thing was fine when I was a teenager, but I don't need you looking out for me anymore." I argued.
"It's Halstead I'm looking out for." Hank exclaimed. "I've seen what happens to the guys you date."
"What is that supposed to mean?" I defended.
"You've left a string of broken hearts behind since you were fifteen, including my son's." Hank said. "I need Halstead 100% effective, not throwing pebbles at your window at 3:00 in the morning."
"You don't get to tell me who I can and can't hang out with on my personal time." I claimed.
"My unit, my rules. You wanna date a cop? There are plenty other districts out there." Hank said. I shook my head and left with a huff.
*****
"All right,Jin, work your magic." Hank said into his radio. We were all sitting in our cars, driving around town. Collins' van was on the move.
"Stand by. Let me get comfy." Jin said into the radio.
"We got eyes on the van yet?" I questioned.
"Said I'm getting comfy." Jin replied. "Okay, got eyes on 'em. Coming up 76th towards Western. Turning into an alley. Heading south towards 77th."
"We're on it." I stated. Halstead and I got out of the car and pointed our guns at the approaching van.
"Got a visual on Brendan Collins." Jay reported. The van suddenly stopped and started going in reverse.
"Van's on the move, headed north on 76th." I said into the radio.
"Let's box it in." Hank commanded as a truck drove into the van.
"Sir, are you okay?" I asked the man who got out of the truck.
"I'm fine."
"5021 William. Emergency. Roll an ambulance to 7320 Western." I reported it to dispatch.
"Copy that. Ambo on the way."
"He's toast." Voight said. "The girls."
We checked the back of the van,but the girls weren't here.
"He had a 9 mil and a throwaway phone. No trace of the coke or the girls." Antonio said as he walked up to us. People from crime lab came.
"So every second that goes by, the less chance those girls survive." I concluded.
"We're all aware of that, Caroline." Antonio declared and I gave him a firm look.
"Everybody stay cool. Get that phone over to Jin asap. Have him run the calls on it." Hank said then looked at Jay. "You're coming with me."
"Where are you going?" I asked.
"Higher up the family tree." Voight replied and they left.
*****
"Hey." I said. I met Justin in front of the district.
"Is deputy dog pissed you're sneaking out to meet me?" Justin asked.
"Who? Halstead?" I questioned.
"Figured you had a little thing with him or something." Justin said.
"Why? Jealous?" I joked and he pursed his lips."Whatever." He said.
"It's called 'work'." I clarified.
"Did you get it?" Justin asked, I reached into my pocket for his wallet but before he could take it I pulled my hand away.
"Why aren't you at the CTA training class?" I asked.
"Because I left my wallet in your car, and I don't have my ID. I rescheduled it for next week." Justin replied and I handed him the wallet.
"Justin." I sighed. "Your dad pulled a lot of strings to get you this job, all right? The least you could do is show up."
"Punch in a little while, make him happy? Come on, Care. CTA is not a career. I got other things cookin' anyways." Justin exclaimed.
"Oh,really?" I inquire. "Is that your ride?" I asked sceptically as I looked at an old sport car, with a young dude sitting in the driver seat.
"Don't worry, about it. He's cool. Just an old friend." Jutin replied. "All right. I'll text you later. Maybe we'll hang out after work, get some drinks or something."
"Or maybe I'll give you a ride home. You know you have a curfew." I yelled after Justin, he nodded his head and got in the car.
I watched them as they drove away. I can't help but have a bad feeling about the guy. About the whole situation.
*****
After Voight and Halstead found out the location of the place where they hid the girls,we went over there.
Geared up, with our guns drawned we went inside. We searched through the building we found a lot of drugs and when we walked farther in, we found one of the girls, she was lying on a table,dead. The drugs were cut out off her stomach.
"Megan Benson." Jay stated, as I just stood there.
"Girl was 19. Still in school. What a waste." Hank said,while we walked out of the house.
"Why do only one?" Jay asked. "Where's the other two?"
"We're not dealing with a pro. Collins got squeamish and ran." Dawson exclaimed.
"Whoever cut into her cut into the condom balloons, destroyed most the cocaine."
"Thanks,doc." Hank said.
"There's no way Collins can afford to do that to the other two." Antonio stated.
"Look, I got some business to take care of. See if Jin's got anything yet, all right?" Hank said before walking away.
*****
"I was able to obtain subscriber info for all the calls from Brendan's cell phone that you found in his van." Jin said as he handed out a copy of the papers to everyone.
"Only two numbers, first to Sean's prepaid cell, which has since gone dead, but I was able to track it to a dumpster on Ashland. Second, six calls to this guy. Ryan Porter." Jin said pointing at pictures on the white board.
"Ryan Porter. Male, white,26. Long sheet for possesion." Jay read it out.
"Worked as a paramedic for three different ambulance companies, fired from all of them." Erin added.
"I know that M.O. Ten-to-one Porter's a play doctor. Busted a few when I worked vice. EMTs who work for private ambulance companies. They barely make 10 bucks an hour. So the ones who wanna make exta cash sometimes provide under-the-table services like patching up gangbangers" Antonio explained,then looked at Jin. "Forward Porter's picture to Olinsky asap."
*****
Olinsky said they saw the offenders with two girls entering the tattoo shop. Him and Ruzek were watching the place all day long. We were all on our ways there.
By the time we got there Ruzek,Olinsky, Atwater and Burgess caught the offenders.
We were standing on the sidewalk watching as an officer brought one of the offenders out.
"Hey!" Erin yelled, and walked over ang got in the guy's face. "You think you're ever gonna forget what you did to those girls? I guarantee you that will not happen,Collins!" Erin kept on yelling.
"Erin,Erin,come on." I said as I walked over to try and get her to calm down. Jay pulled her back.
"Don't worry. I'll make sure this guy gets buried." Hank exclaimed.
*****
There was a knock on my door, I looked out and saw Hank standing there. I slid out to the hallway in the smallest space possible.
"I got a call from Justin's supervisor at the CTA. He said he never showed up." Hank said.
"Yeah, he stopped by the district. I accidentally took his wallet from the gym. It's my bad." I exclaimed.
"The cell I gave him, I've been monitoring it. He was in Statesville with Justin. Joe Catalano. He ever mentioned him?" Hank asked and handed me a file. I quickly looked at the guy's mugshot.
"No. I'll ask him." I said.
"I told you and Erin to keep an eye on him. She doesn't know anything either." Hank stated.
"Listen, if Justin finds out that you're spying on him, he's just gonna push you away farther. I'll call Erin. We'll take care of this. You go home." I said, and placed my arm on his shoulder,then walked back inside my apartment.
"Should I sneak out the fire escape?" Jay asked and I laughed. He was sitting on the arm of the couch,drinking a beer.
"Listen, I gotta go take care of something real quick." I said, as I made deep eye contact. "Thank you for being here. Today was a rough one."
"Always. That's what partners are for." Jay said.
"Yeah." I mumbled. I bit my lip and then reached for my keys on the countertop.
"I might wait like five minutes before I leave." Jay said.
"Sure." I chuckled and left.
I called Erin, and we pinged the guy's phone who was with Justin. He was in a bar so we went there.
"We want whatever he's having." I said to the bartender and he poured us the drinks.
"The last time I drank with a cop, I wound up in County." Joe said, Erin chuckled and I raised my eyebrows. Erin and I clicked our glasses together and drank the shot.
"We know how this works." I said.
"You looked out for Justin inside, and now you think he owes you. Justin doesn't owe you anything." I clarified.
"You can't arrest a guy for hanging out with his friends." Joe said.
"But we can arrest you for the 1/2 kilo, we're gonna find in your trunk." Erin stated, and slapped the guy gently in the face a few times. Then we turned around and walked out.