I woke up with an instant headache. The little disagreement in the hospital last night was frustrating. Their old relationship was a mystery to me, I wanted to know what had happened between them.
Ashton couldn't change her mind and they'd been married for 20 years. Hank comes in, and in a few minutes she all of a sudden wants to do chemo again.
I shrugged the thoughts away, getting ready for work. I grabbed my keys, badge and gun, going to pick up Nolan. When I pulled into the driveway, he came out of the house, angrily shutting the door.
"Woah, tiger."
"She's out of her mind."
"Welcome to my life, Scott."
We pulled up at the district, going in. I smiled at Trudy as I leaned against the desk.
"Good morning, Sunshine."
"Funny. I should have you in uniform today."
"Nolan would love to do that."
"How about I put both of you in uniforms? Let's see what you think about that." She picked up the phone.
"Nolan, did you hear our names upstairs? I did." He nodded. We quickly turned to go up the stairs, stopping when Hank, Al, and Toni came down.
"Let's go. We got a massacre." Hank said.
"And we're turning around." I quickly turned around, going back to my car.
"All right, where are we at so far?" Hank questioned, viewing the scene.
"The four guards are dead, and one guy's wounded."
"What'd they get?" I asked.
"Eight million in cash. International currency shipment from Nagano, Japan, headed down to the federal reserve on LaSalle. They cleared customs fine, and then the money came here to be loaded onto an armored car." Erin responded.
"Can the survivor tell us anything?" Mia asked.
"Yeah. The one guy that's stable is Lukas Perko. He's the warehouse manager and Eric Gonzalez, head of security."
"All right, you grab him. We'll talk to Perko."
"Okay."
"How you doing?" Perko shrugged.
"I don't know. They say it's a through and through."
"Hey, can you give us a minute?"
"Yes, sir." The EMT agreed, walking off.
"Thank you. What'd you see?"
"Four of 'em. Black hoodie, masks, dark shades, bandanas. They lit the place up, man. It all happened just like that."
"And where were you when they came in?"
"I was in the john, and I come runnin' out. And I saw a gun swing my way. I heard sounds like firecrackers. I got hit. I dropped." I threw a look to Hank.
"I guess they thought you were dead." Toni commented.
"Yeah, I guess."
"Height? Weight? Anything else?" I added.
"I caught a glimpse of their foreheads and necks. Black guys, for sure." The team came together, away from the witnesses.
"What did you get from the security guy?" Hank asked.
"He seemed in genuine shock. What about your guy?" Hank shook his head.
"Eight million reasons I can think of why one of 'em is lying."
-
"Anastasia. A word." Hank said, coming out of his office.
"No thanks." A few looks were thrown around. I handed Jay a picture and the case file.
"All right, Perko's been with the company for two years. He's got no criminal record." Jay said, putting Perko's picture on the board.
"He did have a juvey one, though. Perko and his brother Dominik got pinched at 15 on a drug conspiracy for selling meth. He had a mandatory release at 18 and stayed on the straight and narrow, but the brother kept dealing for a Croatian gang, the Two-Threes. Brother's currently serving eight years at Stateville." Erin added. Jin got everyone's attention, pointing to the screen.
"Okay. So they had six video cameras, which you'd think would be aces, right? But, as you can see, cameras one and two, the crew stays too far out of frame to be of any useful identification. Three and four, they stay out of frame all together. And on five, they keep their backs to the camera. And six, the one camera that they can't avoid, well, it's conveniently obscured by the gate."
"There's no way this isn't an inside job." I commented.
"I talked to the dicks over at Area South. One of the canvassing detectives interviewed a trucker who said that he saw a panel van fleeing the scene."
"Tags?" Hank asked.
"Nothing. Except, he saw two of the guys remove their masks. Now, he didn't get a good look at their faces, but he said they were both Caucasian males."
"So Perko lied. The old "black guys did it" defense."
"He's in the E.R. at Chicago Med." Toni said.
"Yeah, I'd like first crack at this one, boss." Sumner spoke.
"You lookin' to prove yourself, Sumner?" Hank teased.
"I'm ready to grill him till he rolls."
"Good. Take Antonio with you." Toni glared at him, grabbing his jacket.
"Hey." Nolan whispered.
"Yeah?"
"Can I crash with you tonight? Tiana may have kicked me out."
"She kicked you out? And she's the one that cheated."
"We got into an argument and we decided it's best if I leave."
"We or she? You know how she can twist your brain, Scott."
"Can I crash or not?"
"Yeah, sure."
"Thanks."
Toni and Sumner came back; Toni shook his head as they went their separate ways.
"What was that about?" I asked.
"She gripped his face a little too tight, threatened him a little."
"This is literally how we do things in this unit."
"Which is wrong, I'm not condoning it but I just didn't expect it from her."
"You've got a point. She looks all sunshine with a little bit of gunpowder."
"Heard Sumner got a little rough with Perko." Nolan joined.
"Sumner, you got a name?" Hank asked.
"Dennis Novak."
"Dennis Novak from East Pilsen?" Hank questioned, shaking his head.
"Look, his crew sells kush, x, whatever they're calling junk these days. He's a low-level jab slinger. It's way out of his league."
"He's telling the truth." Sumner blankly said.
"Okay. Reach out to your CI's, the Hypes, the Lot Lizards. Find out where in my city this guy thinks he can hide."
-
We found a last known location for Novak. I put on my gear, throwing the car keys to Nolan. He looked confused but nodded.
"This is where Novak holes up. Instead of the bank taking over, the Two-Threes did."
"Which makes no warrant necessary." Jay put down the bolt cutters lifting the chain and pushing open the door.
"Chicago P.D! Bodies!" Toni checked their pulses.
"Cover! I got the door on the left. Go!"
"I've got three more!" Mia shouted.
"Clear!"
"Clear!"
"Clear!"
"Clear!" Bodies laid all around the last room in a pool of blood.
"Well, found a couple of these." I held up a mask and a bandana.
"If there was money here, it's gone now."
"Maybe somebody wanted a bigger piece of the pie for himself." Erin suggested.
"Three of these men have Two-Threes' ink. Look at this guy. He ain't Croatian."
"San Judas Tadeo. He's a big narcosaint in Colombia."
"That's right." Jay held up a bullet as he came in the room.
"So we've got two different types of rounds. We've got the nine mils from the pistols, and then I dug a couple slugs out of the wall. I think that's a .22 hollow point."
"It's an assassin's bullet. Ten to one he came in with a Colombian hit squad, caught two in the chest, and his amigos left him where he fell."
"So run Mr. Bogota's prints. See if we find anything at all. We need a name." Hank instructed.
"What's with the long face?"
"No reason."
"Come on, Ana. Talk to me. Is this about Antonio?"
"Scott, do not start." He laughed.
"Okay, I'm sorry. When you're ready, I'll be here." I nodded.
I dropped my things on my desk, sitting down.
"Perko was just burned alive in his car."
"The Colombians are going scorched earth on this." Al and Ruzek came up the stairs.
"Literally. I think they were hoping to torch this guy in his car along with everything with him. But I managed to put out the flames before his cell phone was destroyed."
"I'll take that." Jin took the phone.
"I thought you said you believed Perko." Hank tested Sumner.
"About the Croatian gang, yeah. But this Colombian thing, I don't know how it adds up." Toni spoke up.
"I got a theory. Perko knows about the $8 million coming in, decides it's time to set up his retirement fund. Hires his old Croatian friends to come and take it. Only problem is, the Colombians found out and decided to rob the robbers."
"Okay, but how did the Colombians find out?" Hank asked.
"Perko's cell had the same number call it the last 11 times." Jin said, scrolling through the phone.
"Call the state, line up a judge. You start writing up a warrant for that phone."
"Don't need to. The calls all came from inside Stateville prison."
Toni and Hank went to Stateville to talk to Perko's brother, Dominic.
"Nolan, have you seen my case file for Landon Hensen?"
"Uh, I think Jin's got it." I walked down to Jin's office.
"Hey, have you seen Landon Hensen's file?"
"Uh, yeah, give me a sec." He did some typing on his computer.
"Here you go." He went to the file cabinet, pulling out a folder and handing it to me. My radio sounded with Hank's voice.
"The prisoner's name is Miguel Ortega. Convict number 4-5-285-12."
"Okay." I pushed Jin to the side, typing in the information.
"I need the name and address of every person he's called, visited, or sent mail to the last 72 hours."
"I'm on it."
"We gonna move Dominik Perko to a new cell?" Toni asked.
"He made his bed. Let him bleed in it."
"You know you didn't have to push me like that."
"Shut it, Jin."
We gathered the information, going upstairs. I put the file on my desks, grabbing the pictures from Jin.
"Score one for the home team." Jin announced, pointing to the board. I put pictures up.
"Miguel Ortega's been visited nine times and made four phone calls to his main man in the Latin Kings, Rolo Ramirez. And these are his active lieutenants."
"Whoa. Whoa. That's the homeless guy. The torcher." Ruzek pointed out.
"This guy? You sure?"
"I'm certain, boss." Toni shook his head.
"You're the Latin Kings. You rob the robbers, get away with 8 mill. Why waste Perko?"
"Well, you wouldn't do it unless he knew something he wasn't supposed to."
"But he was tied to the Croatians, not the Colombians." I disagreed.
"What's the nationality of the name Gonzalez? It's not Croatian." Sumner asked, pointing to one of the men who witnessed the shooting.
-
"Rolo just ordered two hookers." Hank announced, coming out of his office.
"They get picked up and dropped off at a location, so we're going to put a cop in with one of their whores. That means-"
"I'll do it." Burgess quickly interrupted. Everyone looked to her.
"Okay." Hank agreed.
"Go get dressed. The rest of us, suit up and get ready for the meet. Let's go."
"She took your opportunity, huh?" Nolan joked.
"If she wants to step up, let her step up."
"You just didn't want anybody seeing you in a skirt." Toni added.
"Joke all you want boys, that is something that I would pay you to see. "
"Oh, I'd actually pay." Jin said, appearing out of thin air. He froze up at our weird looks.
"You know, I mean, 'cause you're just always so self-deprecating. I've got stuff to do." He walked off.
I went to the locker room, passing by Ruzek. Burgess applied lipstick, pulling down her dress.
"Oh, hey. I'm almost ready."
"You know you don't have to do this."
"I do. I mean, I can get in with Voight and that'll help me get upstairs. It's too late to back out anyway."
"Good luck, Burgess. Kick some ass." She smiled.
She put on the finishing touches, closing her locker. We went downstairs to Jin's office; I suited up while Jin put together a wire.
"What time's the pick up?" I asked.
"15 minutes." Hank responded.
"All right."
"Guys, this is Nadia." Erin said, introducing a brunette girl.
"Hey." Nadia said.
"That's Kim."
"Hi." Kim waved.
"Thanks for coming."
"Nice to meet you." Nadia walked over to Kim, looking her up and down. She smudged red lipstick on her bottom lip, looking in her eyes.
"Your daddy ever touch you when you were a kid?"
"What?" Kim whispered, confused.
"Turn the light off in your eyes." Kim nodded. She looked down and back up. Her eyes were low.
"Yeah. We're ready." Nadia said. Jin interjected.
"Wait a second. The wire's glitching. I'm gonna need an hour."
"We don't have an hour, Jin."
"No, it's fine. We don't need it. I get eyes on Ramirez, I'll call you." Hank nodded.
"All right, let's do it."
"You heard the lady."
Kim and Nadia headed to the pickup spot. A black SUV pulled up; they got in, driving off. We followed them to the house, keeping distance.
The SUV stopped in front of a house. The girls got out, entering the house. Now, it was just a waiting game...
After a few minutes, our radios keyed, Kim's voice sounding.
"Rolo's here. Five others in the front, one in the back. Hurry." Kim whispered over the phone, quickly hanging up.
"Give me five." Hank said as we walked to the back of the house.
"Police! Let me see your hands! Do it now! Do it now!"
"Let me see your hands! On the ground! On the ground!" We handcuffed the others.
"Drop the gun!" Rolo had a tight hold onto Nadia, backing up.
"Help me." Nadia pleaded.
"Drop the gun, man! Put it down!" Erin shouted. He kicked the door open behind him.
"Freeze! Freeze!" Hank put the gun to the back of Rolo's head, pushing him on the ground. Nadia screamed, running into Erin's arms.
"All right. All right. All right." Rolo surrendered.
"Get your ass down! Give me that."
"Target on the move! Front of the house!" Mia said.
"Torcher, the assassin. He's fleeing south on foot!" Ruzek announced.
"You get the car! We've got him on foot!" Jay and I chased after him.
"Stop!" Jay shouted.
Jay ran after him through the back, I went through the front. I kicked the door in, checking the front rooms then turning down the hall.
An older woman screamed, holding her hand on her chest. There was a ruckus in the kitchen; I quietly told the woman to go into her room. As I turned around, my face came in contact with a hard object.
The guy grabbed my arm, throwing me into the wall. I got my composure, tackling him to the ground. I got in face shots until he caught me off guard, flipping us over.
I blocked as many punches as I could between my face and upper body. He quickly got up, kicking me in my side multiple times. I groaned, weakly watching him run away.
"You okay?" Toni asked.
"Oh my God. Did he do that to you?! Are you okay?" Jay asked.
"Me? You look like you got jumped, Halstead. What happened to the Ranger in you?" I joked. He rolled his eyes.
"All patrols, suspect's out on foot fleeing 2600 South Albany." Toni radioed.
"Unit 2119 on South Albany. No sign of suspect." A patrol unit said.
We drove to a storage space where Rolo had been hiding the money. Jay pulled out a container, unlocking it and lifting the lid.
"Ooh. I think that's more than I make a year." Hank joked.
"Who called Internal Affairs?" Al asked. We turned to see a man walking up.
"Yeah, I'd be curious to know that myself." Hank said, glaring at Mia.
"Give us a minute." We moved to the door, talking amongst ourselves.
"You okay?" Toni asked.
"Yeah." Kim nodded.
"You did well, Burgess."
"Thank you, Detective." He held his fist up. When they fist bumped, he made the exploding sound.
"Don't let Lindsay see you do that."
"Okay."
"Bad ass, Burgess!"
"Really?"
"Don't worry, we all get our asses kicked, it comes with the job. Nice job. Keep doing work like that and you'll be in the unit in no time." She smiled and nodded.
-
I sat at my desk, finishing up the report for the case. I held a ice pack on my side to help reduce the swelling. A figure stood in front of my desk, taking the pen out of my hand.
"Yes?"
"My office." I rolled my eyes, following him into the office. I closed the door behind me, sitting down.
"How'd you do it?" I asked.
"Excuse me?"
"How'd you change her mind? Ashton couldn't even do it, so what makes you so special?"
"What can I say? Everyone loves me." He smirked.
"If you won't tell me how you changed her mind. Tell me what happened between you two."
"We were together, we broke up. It's a pretty simple story."
"Why did you end it? Was it something she did? You did? What?"
"All you need to know is that we were in love, we broke up, she got with Ashton-"
"It doesn't explain everything."
"What needs to be explained? All you need to know is that you're my daughter, there isn't a day that I've regretted what your mother and I did." I nodded, exiting his office.
"Found this in my desk." Mia said, holding up a picture of Jules and her two kids. Toni looked to me, taking the picture.
"What was she like?" She asked.
"She was a pain in the ass. Her coffee order was the most complicated in the district. Took her longer to describe it than to drink it. But she was damn good police. Slept like a baby every night."
"Mind if I keep it?"
"Yeah, I do."
"Detective? Join me in Voight's office." Perry said, pointing to Toni.
Toni looked at the picture once more, handing it back to Sumner. She gave a small smile. I grabbed my phone, going to my pictures.
I'd taken a picture of Jules when she wasn't paying attention, or at least I thought she wasn't.
I snapped the picture, quickly putting my phone down.
"Delete it." I heard.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"I saw you take the photo, delete it or I'll show everyone August 7th." I gasped.
"Fine." I sent the photo to Alec, then pretended to delete it.
Perry came out of Hank's office, throwing me a sad look. A few seconds after, Toni exited, quickly grabbing his jacket and leaving.
"Hey." I went in Hank's office.
"What was that about?"
"Munoz." He gave me a folder. It was the guy I'd got in a fight with.
"Apparently, he's some big suspect in one of Belden's cases. Belden is taking over everything. He wants to draw out the Colombians so...he's using Pulpo as bait."