CHAPTER TWENTY
pain killer

Sam and Jay walk out of the doctor's office, holding hands and Jay says, "Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, what's up?"

"Is there something going on between you and Porter?"

"What do you mean?"

"I kinda overheard your conversation with him in the locker room after we told the team about the baby"

"Oh, that. The only reason I didn't tell you was because he didn't even act on it. He was buzzed and we talked about it. He said he was sorry and there's not hard feelings"

Jay looks at the ground, still not sure and Sam stops and stands in front of her husband and says, "Jay. We have a family together, okay?" then she takes his hand and puts it on her stomach, "I'm pregnant with our second child. I love you and nobody else"

"Yeah?"

"Yeah" Sam nods, then leans in for a kiss.

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"We run GSR on this guy?" Hank asks, as he, Jay and Sam walk down the hall of the hospital, after Price had gotten shot after a dedication at the boys and girls center.

"Came back negative. Patrol's doing interviews, no weapon, nothing. Shooter's in the wind" Jay says, as they approach Ray's family in the waiting room.

"Alicia, I cannot tell you how sorry I am"

"I wish I could say I was surprised, but sadly, I'm not" Alicia Price says.

"I promise you, we're going to find who did this to Ray. This is detectives Halstead and Halstead"

"Ma'am, I'm sorry, but were you aware of any specific threats against your husband?" Jay asks.

"My husband was ahead in the polls. You know, I just..." Alicia says, as the couple gives her a look, "I would start looking at the people who had the most to benefit by taking him out of the running"

The three turn around to see Kelton walk in with the rest of his goon squad and they walk over to him and Hank says, "Superintendent"

"It is a sad day, Sergeant" Kelton says.

"Yes it is"

"Why don't you..uh. Why don't you bring me up to speed?"

"Uh, nothing yet, my team's still working the scene"

"I've known Ray Price for a very long time. We were rivals, we..we butted heads, but at the end of the day, we respected each other. He was true blue chicago"

"You're talking about him in the past tense, Brian" Hank says, and Kelton walks past them and over to Ray's family.

"I don't know how you keep from punching him" Sam says.

"Like you said, we're playing the long game" Hank says, before they walk away.

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"Well, we know that Ray Price was shot from a distance" Adam says, walking towards the whiteboard, "Problem is we don't know where the trigger was pulled"

"It'll be hard tracking the trajectory. The bullet's still lodged in Price's shoulder" Jay says.

"No direct eyeball witnesses, no shot spotter PODs. We pulled all surveillance" Sam says, walking over to the board, "As for motive..."

"He's black" Kevin states.

"There's that. He's also ahead in the polls. There's a lot of people that don't want him to be mayor"

"You know, if this is a straight up assassination attempt of a public official, we're stepping into FBI territory" Antonio says.

"Look, we still don't know what it is for sure, so we treat it like any other case. Get a list of suspects, anyone who might be targeting Price" Hank says. Trudy walks onto the unit and says, "Hospital detail just called from Med. Ray Price is out of surgery in stable condition. No major damage. The guy is one tough SOB"

"Well, that's great news, Trudy"

"I also went through all the 911 calls pertaining to threats made against Price" Platt says, opening the file in her hand, "A lot of racial slurs. Brick through his house window, his car was tagged with the N word last year. It's an ugly list, but nothing actionable. But there was one incident report that stuck out. It was a week ago. A man was seen in Price's yard having what was described as a 'violent argument' with him. Patrol responded, but Price refused to file charges. He said the whole thing was a misunderstanding"

"Who made the 911 call?"

"His daughter, Jasmine"

~~~

Sam sits down next to Hank in interrogation, who is looking over the file of the guy sitting across from them and says, "So, Mike, according to your file, you're the registered owner of three guns"

"Last time I checked, we still has a second amendment" Mike Rankin, who was the man that was having the argument with Price, says.

"And a long range rifle"

"I'm a hunter"

"Did you go hunting yesterday?" Hank asks.

"No"

Voight takes a picture out of the file and slides it towards the man and says, "That's your car, Mike. It was parked a block away from the Boys and Girls center where Ray Price was shot"

"So what?"

"Okay, look" Sam says, sitting forward, "We know you went to Ray Price's house and threatened to kill him. We have witnesses. We also have looked through your social media. Your hatred for Ray Price is very well documented"

"My hatred is justified. Price is a con man. Got me to put all my money into that neighborhood, got me to donate even more money to his so called charity. He said a Hilton was coming. A hilton. I lost my business, my wife. Now this sleazebags running for mayor?"

"Then what were you doing at the dedication?" Hank asks.

"Whenever Price goes out in public, I want him to look out and see my face and remind him I ain't going nowhere...but I didn't shoot him. I was getting a cup of coffee when I heard it happen"

"When you heard it?" Sam questions.

"Yeah. Clear as day, came from right behind me"

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"This is the third building. Are you sure his alibi checks out?" Brayden asks, as he opens the door to an old elevator.

"Yeah. Rankin was at the 7-eleven downstairs when the shooting happened" Sam says, as they walk into the room and look around, "Bingo, right there. Shell casing" then her and Brayden take down the piece of plywood covering the window, "This was his perch"

"Yeah, this is perfect. You've got no security cameras, no people, elevated position to paint his target in the crosshairs, and then...after the shot" Brayden says, pointing to a door near them, "Easy getaway"

"Oh yeah" Sam says, walking to the door.

"I'll call the crime lab and get 'em up here"

Sam opens the door and says, "Let's talk to building security"

~~~

"So he came down these stairs here, and then he took off running and I told him to stop" The security guys says, as Sam and Brayden follow him towards a chained fence.

"Age, height, weight?" Sam asks.

"He was black"

"That's all you got?"

"I didn't get a good look at his face. I mean, he had on a backpack. I chased him down here" the man says, unlocking the chain on the fence, "We struggled...he came up, pulled away, and went over this fence. Came down hard on the other side though"

"That's as far as you went?" Brayden asks, as the security guard opens the fence and they walk through.

"I work for minimum wage with no benefits, bro. I don't do fences"

"Alderman Price was shot a block away from here. You know that, right?" Sam says as Brayden looks through some bushes near them.

"Oh, I found that out later. Nah, I work down here where it's loud, so I didn't hear any shooting. I just thought he was stealing"

"Check it out" Brayden says, holding onto a phone he found in the bushes, "He must've dropped it"

"Do you know which direction he went?" Sam asks.

"I don't know. He jumped into a car and drove away"

"What kind of car?" Brayden asks.

"Green" the man says, making Sam and Brayden look at each other.

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"Alright, what do we got?" Voight asks, walking out of his office. Brayden tapes a picture onto the board and says, "What we know is that our offender is an African American male. Unknown height, weight, age, but he was carrying a backpack, which suggests that he was using a collapsible long range rifle"

"Fled in a green car. Unknown year, make, or model" Sam states.

"Alright we got anything on the phone?" Hank asks.

"It's a, uh, pay as you go burner. It was activated yesterday, no incoming or outgoing calls, but he did keep it on, so we were able to triangulate his movements" Adam says.

"Right, so let's talk about what we know" Kevin says, pointing to a separate board, where a map of Chicago is on it, "Uh, he was at Bridgeport at 7:15 a.m. Went up to Uptown for an hour all the way to Berwyn. Next thing you know...boys and girls center"

"I talked to Price's ward office. He was home all morning. Those routes don't sync up to him" Antonio says.

"Look there's gotta be something significant with these locations, or was the shooter just driving around randomly" Kim says.

"It wasn't random. That's my house in Bridgeport. I had breakfast in Uptown, met a CI in Berwyn, before I went to the boys and girls club" Hank says.

As everyone starts to realize what was happening, Jay says, "Price wasn't the target. You were"

~~~

"We were able to cobble together footage of all the locations you traveled to before the shootings" Sam says, typing on the computer at the tech room to bring up the footage, "so this is your neighborhood, that's where you had breakfast at TJ's diner, and that's where you met your CI in Berwyn."

"The security guard said that he saw our offender fleeing in a green car" Brayden says, "in each of these locations, there, there and right there, we see the same green Toyota"

"So he could've shot you at any one of these places" Kim says, "why'd he wait?"

"Well, if he's shooting from a distance, he probably doesn't want to be exposed, and none of those spots would've been an easy shot. But he had plenty of time to set up at the dedication. He just missed" Hank says.

"Alright, check it out" Antonio says, taping on the mouse, "car is registered to a Melvin Barnes. He's 42 years old, no run ins with the police. He's employed as a prison guard out of stateville. Ring a bell?"

"I don't know him"

"Car comes back to a south side address. It's a rear garden apartment"

"Alright if this guy was a corrections officer, it means he's probably armed. I want you going in heavy, except Sam"

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Sam and Hank walk onto the crime scene the team is at where Melvin Barnes was shot at his home.

"Similar to the way Price was shot. A .308 round fired from a distance, elevated angle. Building on the left" Antonio says.

"Alright, check it out. We're looking for.." Hank starts to say.

"Witnesses, casings, prints? Jay and Hailey are on it"

"Cool"

"Hey" Kim says, walking over to Hank and Sam as Antonio walks away.

"Yeah"

"So a neighbor saw Melvins green Toyota pulling out of the alley at 7 a.m, but Melvin wasn't driving"

"Alright, get a BOLO on the vehicle"

"Done" Burgess says walking away as Sam and Hank walk over to Adam who is at the spot where Melvin was killed.

"M.E's put preliminary time of death estimated at 6:30 this morning"

"Okay, so shooter kills Melvin, comes down from his perch...takes the keys from the dead man's hands, steals the car, starts following me"

"Patrols got eyes on the green Toyota" Jay says as he and Hailey walk over to them, "it's parked in a garage at state street and 43rd. There's no sign of the driver, but the engines still warm"

"It's right next to the courthouse. The shooters targeting people in the criminal justice system. Prison guards, police officer" Hailey says, "the courthouse has got to be next, and its five minutes from here"

"Let's move" Hank says.

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After the shooter starts shooting at the courthouse, the intelligence team chases after him but ends up losing him somewhere on 18th street where he took off the backpack and his sweatshirt.

"Hey. So I just talked to the patrol officers that are securing the perimeter." Sam tells Voight as they walk down the side walk, "no one has passed through that matches the description. The prick changed his clothes and got by"

Adam catches up with them and says, "I found a security camera facing the building, but it is, of course, broken."

"The man who was shot took one to the chest, but it looks like he's gonna make it. He's a judge named Sam Anderson" Kim says.

"Alright, I know Judge Anderson. So there's gotta be a nexus between the judge, the prison guard and me. Let's work that. Alright, keeping combing for witnesses. Sam?"

"Yeah" Sam says, following after her sergeant.

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"Same MO, same caliber rounds, same shooter" Antonio says, placing down pictures onto Hanks desk, "his intended targets were a prison guard, a judge" then he points at Hank, "and a cop"

"Exactly, so we know he's going after people in the criminal justice system. But why?" Hailey says, "there's gotta be some sort of personal grievance that connects all of you"

"You have any insight, Sarg?" Brayden asks.

"I've gone through all my records. I've arrested 242 African American males in the last 10 years that have come before judge Anderson. And..."Hank says looking at Kim.

"Like a hundred.." Kim starts.

"Hundred and eighty seven of them are back on the street"

"Yo Sarg" Kevin says walking into the office, "me and Ruz just left the crime lab. They disassembled the rifle that we found in the backpack. It was registered to a Drew Bayless. He did two tours in Afghanistan. He's got a Purple Heart"

"Got his file right here" Adam says, walking into the office, "looks like he's had a tough reentry. Restraining orders, D&D, resisting arrest" then he hands Hank the file, who looks through it.

"Recognize that face?" Sam asks.

"I do not" Hank says, then closes the file, "well, it's enough for a warrant. Go pick him up. Antonio you hang back with me, Kim and Sam. Let's go through these files, find a nexus"

~~~

"Alright, thank you" Adam says, hanging up his phone, "uh, Boss?"

"Yeah" Hank says, leaving his office.

"Drew Bayless' story checks out. He was at the Badger lodge for the last four days"

"Looks like he's telling the truth" Hailey says, walking onto the unit, "I got surveillance footage from Bayless' building" then she sits at her desk and throws Jay a flash drive, "hey can you run this" Hailey then starts typing on her computer, "so that is from three days ago"

The video shows a guy breaking into Bayless' apartment then back out again five minutes later.

"Familiar to you, Sarg?" Kevin asks.

"I don't think so"

"Ran facial rec. I got an ID" Jay says, then turns his computer around, "Darius Tatum"

"Okay, I'm wrong. I do know him"

"Found him" Kim says, grabbing a file from Hanks desks and handing him the picture, "Huh. Look at that. I arrested this kid. He was 17. He was a lookout in an armed robbery...I mean, looking at some serious time. I flipped him. I mean, he helped us put away some very bad people. I got him a deal. I mean, he was supposed to do six months in juvie, walk away with a clean slate"

"That didn't happen, boss" Kim says, reading over the file, "it looks like Darius had a hard time getting out of the system. He went from juvie straight to stateville. He was incarcerated for 10 years. He just got out last year"

"Let me tell you something, Darius was a good kid. I mean, something happened to him"

"You stay inside long enough, it's going to take the good out of anybody" Jay says.

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After getting some intel from Bayless and Hank going to Darius' mother's house. The team finds out that there was a shooting over at a at risk youth center.

After Hank tries to negotiate with Darius who is holding some boys hostage, Kelton orders SWAT to take the hit on Darius, which they do and Tatum dies on impact. 

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Jay walks into the locker room after talking with Voight to see Brayden at his locker and says, "We need to talk"

"About?"

"You confessing your feelings for my wife"

Brayden scoffs, closing his locker and says, "Look, man. I was buzzed when I told her that. She's just my partner, alright?"

As Brayden goes to walk past him, Jay pushes on his chest and says, "Stay away from her"

"Come on, man. Don't do that. How else am I supposed to work with her if I can't go near her?"

"Change partners"

"I don't think so"

"Do it"

"Or what, Halstead?" Brayden says, and as he was about to walk past Jay again, said man grabs his arm and pushes him against the lockers. Brayden then throws his bag on the ground, pushing Jay back.

Adam and Kevin run into the room, separating the two and Ruzek says, "whoa, whoa, whoa. What's going on?"

"Nothing" Jay says, before leaving the locker room.

a/n;

Uh-oh, some serious heat going on between Jay and Brayden now 🤭 how is this gonna play out?
Counting down the chapters till the end of the book; 5 left!