⋆° დ ༄ RISKY BUSINESS
chapter forty seven. never forget i love you.
"Voight, how's dry land treating you?" Lieutenant Carter from the fire department says going in for a handshake with Hank.
"Still standing"
"I bet this view never gets old" Maxine said, her hands stuffed in her pockets as they followed the squad Lieutenant towards the Marina.
"Fourth of July, yes. When it's 20 below in January, I dream of a heated fire house"
"So, where's this floater?" Hank questions.
"These yacht club guys claim they took their boat out to fish, casting their nets for live bait. Nearly fell overboard when they pulled this in" he said, taking the blue tarp off of the severed head.
"I'm thinking unnatural causes"
"That's why I called you. We get floaters every few minutes the but not like this"
"Look at that" Maxine said, pointing to the mark on the girls neck, "looks like a small caliber entry wound. She's still got her teeth. We should upload them to VICAP, see if we can ID her from her dental records"
"If we want any real shot in IDing her, we're gonna need the rest of the body" Hank said then looks back at the boat, "they got GPS?"
"They got a lot more than that" the squad Lieutenant says.
"Let's retrace their steps"
~~~
"It's been a few hours. It's possible the current swept the body out further" The Lieutenant said, as he, Maxine and Hank stand at the front of the boat looking for the other half of the victims body.
"Can we give it a few more minutes?" Maxine asks.
"I'm not gonna fight overtime but my guys only for 15 minutes of air left"
"Alright, thanks Carter" Hank says, as the lieutenant walks away.
"My first year on patrol, I responded to this call at Douglas park. A jogger saw hands sticking out of the lagoon, so marine unit came and drained it, and they found two more bodies"
"Mother killed her two boys"
"Yeah, she tied them together with an extension cord. That kind of thing never leaves you"
"Diver one just located an object on the bottom" Carter said and Maxine and Hank walk over to him to see what they found. The crane pulls up the stretcher and the other half of a body was on it.
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Maxine knocks on the door and her and Jay walk in and the medical examiner says, "good news. Both head and body belong to the same person"
"Was there any doubt?" Jay asks, as they walk over to the table where the body is.
"The pieces they pull from the Chicago River, you never know" Dwyer says, then she pulls back the sheet, "Early twenties. The water decomps are tough to pinpoint."
"Ballpark time of death" Max says.
"Best guess, your victim died a week ago...from strangulation as indicated by the fractured hyoid in the victims neck"
"These holes aren't gun shot wounds" Jay states.
"You're right. They were made by a power drill" Dwyer says, making max raise an eyebrow, "Whoever killed this girl knew what they were doing. They drilled holes so the body would sink"
"Just get us something. Anything we can use to ID her" maxine asks, sincerely then they walk away.
Maxine checks her phone to see Maverick calling again as they walk out to the car and she sighs.
"Everything okay?" Jay asked and Maxine nods her head and gets into the car.
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"M.E was able to pull a couple usable prints off our victim's hand" Maxine says, taping a picture of their victim onto the white board, "ID came back as Victoria Wasson, 26. She's in the system for simple possession."
"She used to be a dancer at the strip club Deluxe" Jay adds, standing next to his partner.
"It's up on Kingsbury"Antonio says, sitting on the edge of his desk, "Raided it a few times when I was in Vice. It's an Outfit joint, totally protected."
"So, Victoria saw something she wasn't supposed to and the Outfit killed her for it" Adam says, sitting up in his chair. Jay points to a picture on the board and says, "Given the way the body was drilled full of holes so it would sink, thats a strong possibility"
"This Victoria could have crossed paths with all kinds. Dealers, stalkers, jealous exes. Let's put the pieces together, start building a timeline" Hank says.
"Closest next to kin is Victoria's little sister. She's a sophomore at CCU" Maxine says, looking at her computer, then back at the team, "She shouldn't have to see her sister's body like this, so me and Jay will do the notification."
Adam stands up from his desk and says, "and I'll hit the strip club with Antonio"
"Yeah, right after you hit the ATM" Jay jokes, grabbing his coat.
"Al, go with them" Hank says, before walking towards his office. Maxine looks at Erin who nods at her and they walk over to Voight.
"Hank" Erin says.
"Hmm" he hums.
"We gotta be honest. Every time a case involves the Outfit, we get a little worried" Maxine says.
"Don't be"
"You're a member of their social club, and your father was a member there"
"Nobody's getting special treatment. If the outfit's involved, we'll hit them with everything we've got. Until then, I need more than speculation" Hank says, then walks into his office.
"Right" Erin says.
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"We didn't see each other a lot" Lauren Wasson, Victoria's little sister cries, on a bench in front of the college, "Vicky worked nights, and I had class most days"
"When was the last time you saw your sister?" Maxine questions. Lauren sighs and says, "Last friday. She came home and she said a friend was flying her down to Cabo for the week."
"Your sister mentioned his name?" Jay asks, stuffing his hands into his jacket pockets.
"Vicky had a lot of friends. Guys she met at work. I never knew their names. Um...our parents died in a car wreck six years ago and..." Lauren says, trying to fight the tears, "...and Vicky stepped up and decided she was gonna take care of both of us. She worked all kinds of jobs. She even started dancing at that club to help me pay for school."
"Listen, we don't care how your sister lived her life" Max says, trying to reassure the college student, "We just care about finding out who did this to her"
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Maxine walks into the break room to see Erin grabbing a cup of coffee and says, "Hey, E, thanks for letting me crash at your place for a bit. I hope it's not an inconvenience"
"No, never" she said, shaking her head, "what's going on with you and Maverick?"
Maxine sighed, "He's married, Erin"
"What?"
"They're separated but the crazy ex won't sign the papers"
Erin goes to bring her friend into a hug, "I'm sorry, Max. Everything will work out. If it was meant to be, it will be"
Maxine gave her a half smile, "you sound like Voight"
~~~
"Sarg, just spoke to Financial crimes about the IDs we found in Victoria's locker" Adam says, walking onto the bullpen then hands Atwater some papers to tape onto the board, "apparently, they've been looking for the pretty face behind these check kiting schemes for months now. They just didn't know her real name" then Adam opens a file to read from it, "As Jen Turner, she bilked 35 grand from Citibank. As Beth Hampton, 44 thousand at Bank of America. And as Lana Del rio, a cool, clean 56 grand from Chase"
"Bottom line is she's cashed over half a million dollars' worth of counterfeit treasury checks" Kevin says.
"That's an old school Outfit scam" Olinsky says, "Using young, attractive women to rip off bankers with a fugazi paper instead of guns"
Erin and Maxine notice Hank getting uneasy and walking into his office.
"Yup. girls keep 10%, then they kick the rest back to their handler. That's how the Outfit keeps their hands clean." Dawson says.
"So, do we loop in Organized crime?" Erin asks. Hank grabs the file from Adam and says, "No, I'll do the digging"
"When?"
"I've got to run my schedule by you now?"
"Look, whatever this girl was into, she didn't deserve to end up dead in the bottom of the river. We know this was Outfit..."
"So, now you're gonna tell me what she did and did not deserve, like I don't know"
"I'm just asking what the game plan is here"
Voight sighs then says, "Keep looking into Victoria's known associates" then he leaves the unit.
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Adam uses a crowbar to get the door open to the building where the suspect was making fake IDs. As Maxine enters with her long gun, with Adam following behind, they start to clear out the space.
After clearing out the first floor, they head upstairs to the second floor. "First door on the right. Go" Max whispers.
After Adam checks the room out to clear it, they continue down the hall to clear out the other rooms. Bishop stops to pick up a fake ID that was slowly burning in the trash can, when they hear movement down the hall.
As Max enters the room, someone quickly pushes her against the table then pushes Ruzek harshly out the balcony door, breaking the glass from the window.
After Maxine regains her composure, she runs out onto the balcony to see Adam fighting with their suspect.
"Hands up! Let me see your hands!" Max yells, pointing her long gun at the suspect. The suspect then pushes ruzek again and they fall off the balcony.
Adam punches the man in the face again to keep him down when Antonio runs over to them to cuff him.
"Adam, you okay?!" Maxine asks and Adam groans in pain, shaking his head no, "good job, buddy"
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"Charlie Koslo" Maxine says, taping his picture onto the board, "Polish kid, grew up on Taylor street. He was an up and coming enforcer for the Outfit"
"Then he shattered some guys jaw over a parking spot, and the judge gave him five years" antonio says, standing next to Max, "six months into his sentence, he pissed off some GDs, who dropped a 45 pound plate on his head, putting him in a coma for two months. His prison psych profile says after that, he never fully recovered mentally"
"Who gave us Koslo?" Erin asks, sitting on the edge of her desk.
"A concerned citizen" Voight says, reading a file and leaning on the door to his office and Erin raises an eyebrow.
"I went back to Deluxe and flashed Koslo's picture. " Al says, standing up from his desk, "Now Victoria's dancer friend, Sage, said that she saw Koslo arguing with Victoria the night she disappeared."
~~~
After talking with Koslo and his lawyer, Jim Sheltie. Hank and Antonio walk back onto the bullpen and Voight says, "Got a confession from Koslo"
"Fantastic. We'll take it" Adam says, leaning back in his chair. Erin stands up from leaning on Maxine's desk and asks, "What do you mean? Half an hour ago, he was saying he didn't do it"
"He changed his mind" Hank says, holstering his gun.
"Based on what? A public defender could get him off on what we have right now"
"Guess we're lucky he came clean" Hank says, walking towards his office.
"Did he come clean, or did his mobbed up lawyer get him to take one for the team?"
"I'll tell you what. You want to volunteer for the innocence project, I'll get you that number. Right now, we've got a case to close" Hank says then hands Erin a piece of paper, "You and Max, roll with crime lab to that address"
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"We get anything off the drill?" Maxine asks the crime tech. Rodriguez shakes her head and says, "Not even partial. Got to assume your guy was wearing gloves"
"Alright, let's bag everything, get it to the lab"
"Thanks" Erin says, hanging up her phone, walking over to her friend, "Hey, that was the DMV. The last person the boat was registered to died two years ago. Then the title never gets transferred and all the storage fees have been paid in cash"
Max scoffs and says, "Great"
"And I'm not so sure it was used to dispose of the body" Rodriguez says.
"What do you mean?"
"My tech sprayed the whole cabin and deck with Luminol. Not a single trace of blood. If your killer used this boat to transport the body, a body that was drilled full of holes, no way it'd be this spotless."
The partner duo look at each other then Erin says, "Thanks" before they leave.
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"Searched the boat. Crime techs found zero physical evidence tying Koslo to the boat or to Victoria's body" Erin says, as she and Maxine stand in Voight's office to tell them about their unsuccessful search of the boat.
"He had a week to clean it up" Voight says, leaning back in his chair. Max leans back on the wooden wall and says, "Forensics says the way the body was desecrated then, that'd be impossible. So, if this was Koslo, he...
"If? He confessed"
Erin looks at her partner, who nods and closes the door.
"You remember the summer I moved in with you?" Erin asks, "the cartage warehouse over on Cermak got knocked off, and the guard on duty got killed. Half the neighborhood saw Tommy Posato at the Italian Day festival when it happened, and he still went to Joliet for murder"
Hank gets up from his desk to walk over to his daughter and adopted daughter and says, "And?"
"And it wouldn't be the first time the Outfit sent somebody up the river for something that they didn't do"
"Careful what you're implying"
"I'm not implying anything. Whoever gave you Koslo, you're getting played"
Mouse walks up to the door then says, "I can come back"
"What do you got, Mouse?" Maxine asks.
"I ran Koslo's telephonics, you know, and there were a bunch of calls to Victoria Wasson, and the odd thing is, there's even more calls to Lauren Wasson. Victoria's younger sister. I mean, looks like Charlie, he was in a relationship with both girls"
"Which Lauren neglected to mention" Max says, leaving the office and grabbing her coat.
~~~
"Lauren, why weren't you straight with us from the beginning?" Maxine asks, sitting across from Lauren in the break room with Jay leaning against the wall behind her.
"I already told you everything I know" Lauren says.
"You left out the part where you're dating the guy who scammed treasury checks with your sister, who also just confessed to killing her"
"Wait, Charlie confessed?" Lauren asks and Jay nods his head, "No, no. No way"
"So how about you tell us the truth, then? Unless you want your boyfriend going to prison for a murder he didn't commit." Max says, clasping her hands together.
"Okay, I wanted to tell you. I swear. But you saw what they did to Vicky"
"Who's they?" Jay asks, "did someone threaten you?"
"I don't know their names. They're...okay, look, all you need to know is that Charlie was with me the night Vicky disappeared. I swear"
"And you can prove that?" Max asks.
"We went to the silent movie theater on Clark, and then he stayed the night at my dorm"
"Did he sign the guest book at the front desk?" Jay asks.
"Guys aren't allowed past 10, so charlie always sneaks in through the garage"
~~~
Voight walks onto the unit from talking with Frank from the Outfit when Adam gets up from his desk and says, "Boss. Hey" then hands him a piece of paper, "Platt's on my ass about getting Koslo out of lockup, in front of a judge for arraignment"
"Final autopsy results came in for Victoria Wasson" Jay says, as he and Maxine walk out of the break room, "turns out, at the time of her death, she was 16 weeks pregnant"
"Victoria's little sister Lauren was with Charlie Koslo" Max says.
"Who she was banging"
"The night that he supposedly killed Victoria, two of Lauren's dorm mates will confirm that they saw him there"
"Alright, get Koslo back up here" Voight says then turns to Ruzek, "And tell Platt we haven't officially charged him yet. It's still an open investigation"
~~~
"I know why you confessed to Victoria's murder. You were protecting Lauren" Maxine says, as she and Hank stand in front of Koslo in his cell, "you eat the charges and she doesn't get hurt. Am i right?"
"You talked to Lauren?" Koslo asks and max nods her head, "Is she okay?"
"Yeah, she's in police custody. Id say right now you need to think about helping yourself"
"Charlie, we know you were with Lauren the night Victoria was murdered" Voight says, "You listening? Hey. we need to know who put you up to this"
"I tell you, they kill me. Better off going back to Stateville"
Maxine crosses her arms over each other and says, "Did you know Victoria was pregnant? We think that's the motive here. You said you didn't like the guy she was seeing, so who is he, Charlie? Who could be the father here?"
Koslo hangs his head low and Hank says, "Charlie. Charlie" going over to sit next to him on the bunk bed in the cell, "I know how manipulative these guys can be. Family, loyalty, honor. They're all fine words, until it's their necks on the block. No matter what promises were made, this isn't right. And I've got to tell you. Lauren? If you're in prison, they'll just see her as a loose end. She'll never be safe"
"Tafani"
Both Max and Hank look surprised.
"Carlo Tafani?"
"Victoria was sleeping with him. I told her never to get into bed with the boss."
"You're sure about this?"
"Yes sir"
~~~
"Carlo Tafani is a boss for the Outfit's bridgeport crew" Jay says, sitting on the edge of Maxines desk while Adam tapes up a picture of him and his crew onto the board, "Tied to money laundering, racketeering, and suspected in the disappearance of several witnesses in the family secrets case"
Mouse walks onto the unit with a file in hand and says, "financial crimes just sent over a report detailing recent transactions by Tafani's front company, Vesta inc. Now, one of the names that showed up on the report is none other than Miss Lana Del Rio"
"That's one of those aliases that Victoria used" Adam says.
"Exactly. Now, the check scam paid out in cash, so I'm thinking, you know, hush money"
Erin looks over at Hank who says, "I'll pick him up"
"I'll come with" Erin says, grabbing her coat.
"No, you won't"
"You said we'd hit this guy with everything we got"
Hank stops and turns around towards Erin and says, "Tafani is not the kind of guy you punch in the mouth"
"Right now, he is suspect number one"
"Which is why I'm going to talk to him"
"Hank"
"Sergeant"
"Sergeant, if you don't drag Tafani back here in a set of cuffs, I will"
"That right there, is what I'm talking about. You keep talking to me like I'm the guy who raised you instead of your boss. Go back to your desk until i need you"
Erin scoffs, nodding her head then walks back over to her desk and throws her coat on it.
~~~
After Hank talks with Tafani, Erin brings Voight back to the bullpen to where Maxine and Mouse are to tell him what they found.
"So, it turns out the only other person authorized to wire money out of Tafani's account is the lawyer, Jim Sheltie" Max says.
"They need someone to send a bribe, make bail. That's what those guys do" Hank says.
"There's more to it than that" Erin says, "I had Mouse run sheltie's financials"
"Get this. Sheltie bills about 600 an hour. He's still living beyond his means. The guys going through a nasty divorce. He's got debt up to his eyeballs, a condo, a car..."
"Boat, a 55 foot Bertram he keeps registered in New Buffalo, Michigan" Max adds.
"And it seems he also likes to live it up room service style. He keeps a standing reservation at the W hotel. Well, he's been crashing there ever since his wife kicked him out, so I accessed security footage at the hotel." Mouse says, then plays footage of Victoria getting onto the elevator, "Look who's been visiting him the last month. Our DOA" then the footage continues as they watch Victoria knock at Sheltie's door then he kisses her.
~~~
Maxine and Erin stand in interrogation waiting for a patrolman to bring up Sheltie. As the officer knocks, he lets Sheltie in who says, "Where's my client?"
"Which one?" Max asks, "You've had a busy day. Maybe we should assign you a parking space" which makes Sheltie chuckle, setting his coat down on the back of the chair.
"We've been over this from every angle, and we just can't figure out why Charlie Koslo would wanna murder Victoria" Erin says. As Sheltie was about to say something, Hank walks in and sits on the bench behind them.
"What the hell is this about?" sheltie asks.
"You're in a lot of trouble, counselor." Max says, setting the surveillance footage photos onto the silver table, "Looks like you, uh, panicked a little bit when you found out Victoria was pregnant. So, you paid her 20 grand of the boss' money just to make the baby go away"
"You didn't want to keep that baby, but Victoria wanted to keep it. So you brought her out to a remote location, told her you were going to cabo. That was a nice touch" Erin says, "And then strangled her...drilled her full of holes, a little trick you learned from your mob clients" then she sets down a photo of his boat then of Victorias cut off head, "and you go out on your Bertram to dump the body"
"Everything you've got is circumstantial at best." sheltie says.
"Way i see it, you got two options. One, you cop to the murder right now. No deal. No assurances. Or two, walk out that door" Hank says, making Erin look at him in disbelief, "and you know what's gonna happen"
"Wait a minute" Erin says.
"What's it gonna be?"
Erin and Maxine look at each other and Sheltie grabs his coat and says, "I think I'll be going now"
"No way"
"Erin!" Hank says, as Sheltie opens the door to leave.
"Good luck with the investigation" sheltie says before leaving.
"We had him!" Erin yells then walks to the bullpen to grab her jacket with Maxine following behind her.
"Hey!" Erin shouts, making Sheltie turn around as he unlocks his car, "this isn't over. I'm gonna make sure you go down for Victoria's murder"
"Erin, let him go"
"I already told you guys, you got him in custody for that. His name is Charlie Koslo"
A black SUV then drives up to them and a window rolls down to reveal Frank, from the Outfit who says, "Jimmy, why don't you hop in?"
Sheltie locks his door then gets into the SUV. The car drives off and Frank looks at the Detectives before rolling up his window.
Max and Erin walk back onto the unit to see Hank leaving his office with Tafini and they look at each other in shock.
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Maxine and Erin have a drink at Mollys, trying to down their sorrows from his exhausting case.
"Can I get a Manhattan?" they hear and they turn to see Hank next to them, "You know you mentioned the summer you moved in. The thing you didn't know about Tommy Posato, the thing nobody knew is Tommy liked underage girls, tender age girls. The outfit found out about it, and they gave him a choice. .22 to the back of the head or take the rap for one of their robberies and go away to Joliet" then he sighs, "I'm not always gonna explain what I do, and you two are not always gonna like me for that, but just, uh...never forget I love you two."
Hank then sees Burgess calling him and he answers, "voight"
"Sergeant, we have a problem"