⋆° დ ༄ UNTIL THERE WAS FOREVER
chapter seventeen. emotional proximity.

Hank and Sam exit their car to see Chief Lugo making a press statement at the scene of the warehouse fire, 51 responded too -which is also where Al's daughter, Lexi was, who is in critical condition at Med-, and they walk over to Stone and Dawson.

"Stone" Hank says, shaking hands with ASA Peter Stone.

"Hey"

"Antonio" Hank says, shaking hands with Dawson. Dawson fist bumps with Sam as Stone says, "The entire State's attorney's office and investigators are at your disposal"

"Good"

"What do you need?" Dawson asks.

"Just have your people in Felony Review ready to sign some warrants"

"Done" Stone says, as Voight and Sam get ready to walk past them, "Hank, I know detective Olinsky's daughter is among the injured, but when I get this case file, it's got to be legit, by the numbers and tight"

"Hey, Sarg!" Severide calls out. Sam and Hank walk over to the firefighter, and Hank and Kelly shake hands, then Kelly gives Sam a side hug and kisses her temple, who says, "Hey Kells. You found something?"

"Yeah. When we responded to the call, this door was locked, so we thought...so we just pried the door open" Kelly says, leading Sam and Hank over to the metal door, "See these scratch marks?"

"Yeah" Hank says, as he and Sam look at the big scratch marks on the ground Kelly is pointing too.

"Whoever did this, when they exited, they jammed these metal wedges underneath the door" Kelly says, pointing to the metal wedges. Voight stands up and sighs and says, "Give me a second" then walks over to Chief Lugo.

"Can I ask you something?" Sam asks.

"Yeah, what's up?"

"Do you remember Asher Montgomgery from high school?"

Kelly scoffs and says, "Yeah. He was always a bit off"

"Yeah? I saw him on the street last week, working a case with Brayden and he said the same thing. But I mean, he was Justin's best friend, you think he would've noticed that right?"

"I don't know. You know he had a bad home life, we all did. His father was a gang member, his mother died because of it and we tried to distance ourselves when he started selling drugs. But then when Emma died, you know how bad he took it"

"Yeah, then he disappeared after her funeral and then we haven't seen him since...that is until I saw him about four months ago at the grocery store"

"Just out of the blue?"

Sam furrows her eyebrows and says, "Yeah, I was getting Gracie's birthday cake and I heard someone call my name and when I turned around he was there. Said he has a construction company and a wife now"

"After growing up the way he did?"

Sam shrugs and says, "I mean, it's possible. Everyone can change if they want to"

"Yeah, I guess"

🌙🌙🌙

Back at the district, Sam and Hank are at the rollup where they are being briefed by Sergeant Platt on the guy they have in the cage, who is pacing back and forth.

"Lane Cromwell. He and Nathan Delano were cellmates at Stateville for four years." Trudy says, as Hank looks through the file, "He's wanted on an extraditable felony warrant from St. Louis. He beat a cab driver half to death. Priors for unlawful restraint, aggravated battery, assaulting a police officer, you get the idea"

"Hmm" Hank hums as Cromwell spits at them through the cage.

"Yeah, I'm gonna head back upstairs" Trudy says.

"That's probably a good idea" Hank says, as Trudy exits and walks back up to intelligence, "You spit on that floor again, you're gonna be licking it back up, trust me"

Sam and Hank walk over to the cage and the brunette asks, "Nathan Delano. Where is he?"

"I know you guys know who I am. I know I'm going back to prison for the rest of my life. So save it. You got nothing to offer me" Cromwell says.

"That's a fair point. Fair point" Hank says, unlocking the cage, then opening it, "But your little brother, what's his name again?"

"Aaron" Sam states.

"Right. He's doing six years at Menard, isn't that right? Yeah, says here he's in, uh, administrative segregation" Hank says, looking at the file, "Apparently he's having some problems in gen pop. I don't know, but judging by his intake photo, I'm guessing he's just...just a little too fetching"

"You can't touch him" Cromwell says.

"Oh no?"

"No"

"Wanna hear something really funny? The warden at Menard used to be my deputy chief. Yeah. See, his wife, she wanted to move out to the country, so he took the warden gig, and she finally got her garden" Hank says, sitting next to Cromwell, "So, I'd say inside of 30 minutes, I could have your baby brother tossed in that yard like a little dog treat"

As Hank stands up from the bench after Cromwell still not saying anything he finally shouts, "I don't know where Nathan is! He packed a bag real quick and drove off two minutes before your cop buddies rolled up"

"Did he torch that warehouse?" Sam asks, but Cromwell doesn't answer.

"Did he torch that warehouse?!" Voight asks.

"I have no idea. I wasn't there, and I didn't ask" Cromwell says.

"So, why'd he blow off his check in with his parole officer yesterday?"

"He'd been using. He knew he wouldn't pass the piss test, so we were gonna skip town. Head up to alaska, where a buddy of mine owns a fishing boat"

"Okay, what's he driving?" Hank asks, but gets no response, "What's he driving?"

Cromwell still doesn't say anything, so Hank closes the cage behind him and Sam when Cromwell shouts out, "A '94 green Toyota. Stolen out of Wisconsin"

~~~

"Copy that, thanks" Kevin says, hanging up his phone, "Okay, Sarg, we got a statewide BOLO out there on Delano and the stolen Toyota"

"So, here's what we're up against, boss" Adam says, walking over to Voight who is in front of one of three boards out with the pictures of the 36 dead victims, 18 injured victims at Med and the other board with suspects and evidence on the case so far, "The warehouse was without any residential permits, so there's no records, no lease agreements, no video cameras, and the person who knew the most was the owner, Barry Kimball, who shot himself in the face yesterday at firehouse 51"

"Right, Delano's previous arson, he tried to kill his own family members. So it's a good bet, if he's behind this one, he has some personal connection to someone inside" Hank says.

"Hey, this is interesting" Sam says, grabbing a file from over on Burgess' desk that she's been looking at, "Barry Kimball took out additional commercial property insurance on the warehouse six months ago. He doubled his policy"

"Insurance scam?" Porter asks.

"Maybe"

"Somehow crosses paths with Delano, and then gets him to torch the place"

"Says he has a live-in girlfriend, Stacia Mulaney. We can check his apartment"

"Good. Do it" Hank says.

🌙🌙🌙

"This is a nightmare" Stacia says, as Porter starts searching the apartment and Sam pulls up pictures of Delano and Cromwell onto the tablet to show the brunette.

"Yeah, for a lot of people" Sam says.

"Barry was just trying to help. They were artists and musicians who couldn't afford regular rent. They made a community there"

"Do either of these men look familiar to you?" Sam asks, showing Stacia the pictures. Stacia shakes her head and says, "No"

"Why did Barry take out extra insurance on the warehouse six months ago?" Brayden asks, as Sam walks over to a desk nearby, looking through some papers.

"I don't know. He kept me out of that stuff" Stacia says, making Sam look at her partner and raise her eyebrows.

"When he killed himself at the firehouse, he had an unregistered gun.Why would he be walking around with that?"

"He was being threatened"

"By who?" Sam asks.

"He didn't say, but he started to get really paranoid."

"Threatened about what?"

"Money. I don't know. Like I said, Barry kept me out of all that stuff"

"Okay" Sam says, walking closer to the brunette, "Stacia, I'm gonna ask you something, and I'm only gonna ask you once. Do you know who was after your boyfriend or who could've started that fire?"

Stacia shakes her head and says, "No"

Sam sighs and says, "Okay"

"Keep your phone on. Don't leave town" Porter says.

"We'll be in touch" Sam says, before her and Brayden leave.

🌙🌙🌙

After getting a call from Kim about getting a hit on Delano's stolen toyota, Sam and Brayden pull up to the 3400 block of Pulaski, and spot the car. Brayden shows Sam a picture of Delano to remember what he looks like, before they get out of the car, guns drawn.

As they approach the car, Delano starts shooting at them, hitting a civilian, who Sam hurries over to, putting pressure on the wound and calling an ambulance, while Brayden goes after him.

"5021 satton. Armed offender fleeing westbound on 29th street. Get me some cars" Porter says over the walkie.

"Copy that" dispatch says.

Then a couple seconds later, Sam hears, "5021 satton, shots fired by police. Offender is down. 4000 block of west 29th street. Roll an ambulance"

"Copy that. Bus is on the way"

The civilians hand grips around Sam's arm who says, "It's gonna be okay" then she gets on the walkie and says, "5021 sattons other half. Can you tell that ambulance to kick it in the ass, please? Brayden, you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good, you?"

"I'm good" Sam says, putting the walkie down and looks at the gunshot victim in her arms, "Sir, sir look at me, it's gonna be okay. The ambulance is on its way"

"5021 squad, be advised...offender didn't make it"

"Copy that, 5021 satton. We'll notify the coronor" dispatch says.

🌙🌙🌙

Back on the unit, everyone is at their desks, when Hank walks out of his office and says, "Lexi died 20 minutes ago"

Sam puts her hand over her stomach, taking a sharp breath. She knew Lexi and she was a good kid, who didn't deserve to die at 19, she still had a full life to live.

"So we can mourn when the scumbag who did this is in cuffs. Till then, what do we got?" Hank asks and no one says anything, till trying to process what Voight just said, "Hmm"

"Yeah, right, uhm" Kim says, walking over to the whiteboard, that has all the evidence and the case on it, "The lab did an enhancement on the suspect leaving the warehouse. They were able to identify the logo on the right shoulder of the suspect's jacket. The brand is Forerange. The cargo jacket looks like the one the suspect is wearing. There's five retail stores in Chicago that carry the brand. They're sending me the last six months of security footage and all their cash and credit card transactions"

"Alright, Kev, what's up with the tip you got on KD?" Hank asks, as Kim walks back to her desk.

"Yeah, we got about 85 registered gangbangers with those initials in our database" Kevin says.

"And I cross referenced the initials KD with everyone who's contacted Kimball's phone. Nothing" Jay says.

Trudy sets her laptop down on Brayden's desk and says, "These are all the in service calls and any paper generated on the warehouse. Most of the calls came from the same landline. Same woman. Claire Burke. She's made over 40 suspicious persons calls. The last was three nights ago, and she lives down the block from the warehouse"

Sam looks at Voight who says, "You and Brayden"

As Sam and Brayden grab their jackets, Sam stops at the board where Lexi's name is taped under injured victims and she slowly moves it over to the board of dead victims.

🌙🌙🌙

Sam and Brayden walk up the stairs to the house of Claire Burke and when Sam was about to knock the door opens to find Mrs. Burke who says, "This is how it always happens. Ya'll don't show up until it hits the fan"

"Uh, detectives Miller and Porter. Are you Claire Burke?" Sam asks.

"Yes and before you leave, I wanna get the correct spelling of your names, your badge numbers, and what unit your assigned to"

"Not a problem, ma'am. We're here about the warehouse fire. The gentleman who owned it was named Barry" Mrs. Burke cuts Sam off and says. "I know who he is and he packed them damn kids in there like sardines. Treated them about as good, too"

"Did you notice anything the night of the fire? Anything suspicious?" Brayden asks.

"Night before, I did"

"Okay" Porter says, taking out his notepad to write in it.

"Barry had been having this heated conversation with another man, right down the street. I was sitting in that window, and I could see it all. This man kept thumping Barry's chest just like this" Claire said, lighting thumping Brayden's chest, making Sam chuckle a bit, "And I told that old hairbag officer keating when he finally showed up 45 minutes later. But did officer keating follow up with me? Hell no"

"Okay, any other details about the man?"

"White gentleman, brown hair. A little shorter than you, looked like.."

"How shorter?" Porter asks.

"Oh, so you interrupt people"

"Sorry ma'am" Porter says, giving a quick glance to his partner, who smiles.

"I didn't have a measuring stick, so I can't say for sure. But he was in his 20's though and I got his license plate number. Wrote it down"

"Really?" Sam asks, "Any chance you have security cameras?"

"What am I? Fort Knox? No, I don't have any damn security cameras. But I got eyeballs and that guy had been by here three times to talk to Barry. He wasn't bringing nothing but bad news, next thing you know, 39 young people get called home way before their time. I'll go get you that license plate number"

"Appreciate it" Sam says.

When Claire Burke comes back to the door, Sam gets off the phone with Ruzek who just sent over pictures of suspects and one who the initials KD belong to, Kade Davis. Sam gets the tablet form the car to show Mrs. Burke different photos.

"Him. No doubt in my mind" Claire says, pointing to Kade Davis' picture.

"Thank you very much for your help" Sam says, before she and Porter walk down the stairs.

"Finally, a cop does something for this city" Claire shouts out.

🌙🌙🌙

Once Erin calls Hank from Med about what a surviving victim had told them about their suspect, Hank stands in front of the whiteboards and says, "Alright, we're looking for a male, white, 20 to 25, owns a brown Forerange cargo jacket, he wears a silver skull ring on his right hand, he's about 5'8", and he has blue eyes"

"We'll run everyone in the city with that description, all DMV, city, county, and state employees, anyone with a public record." Trudy says.

"Kick Kade Davis?" Jay asks.

"Charge him with the gun first" Hank says.

"So we're no where" Al says, sitting at his desk and Hank just stares at him.

"We got that vigil in an hour, Sarg" Kevin says.

"Alright, everyone get ready" Hank says.

🌙🌙🌙

Everyone and I mean everyone is at the vigil for all the victims of the warehouse fire, while the team does a sting to see if the arsonist shows up.

Sam looks around and notices someone wearing a forerange cargo jacket, who then looks at her and starts walking away.

"I got someone. Male, white, dark beanie, moving to my right" Sam says, over her walkie, walking in that direction.

"Halstead, he's coming to you brother" Kevin says, looking at camera surveillance with Trudy in an unmarked van.

As Jay walks towards the suspect who turns right, he says, "Headed north" through his walkie.

"I got eyes" Ruzek says, "He's going westbound down the alley"

Sam walks down the alley where Hank has the suspect at gunpoint, but then holsters his gun and takes off his glove on his right hand to see his silver skull ring then says, "Put him in the cage"

🌙🌙🌙

Back at the roll up, Sam and Hank stare at the offender, who's in the cage and she says, "Dylan Oates, 22, he's got an apartment on West 18th"

"Call Felony Review, get a warrant" Hank says.

Sam nods her head and heads back to the unit.

🌙🌙🌙

"Chicago PD!" Adam yells, then kicks in the door of Dylan Oates' apartment. Adam and Sam then walk in guns drawn to clear the place.

"Clear!" Sam yells.

"Clear!"

Once the place is cleared, they search the place top to bottom to find anything that connects him to the fire.

"Sam, in here!" Adam calls out. Sam walks into the bedroom where Adam is and says, "What is it?"

Adam lifts up a plastic bag and says, "Metal wedges"

Sam sighs and says, "Like the ones found holding the door closed"

🌙🌙🌙

When Antonio arrives at the roll up to see if they had a suspect in custody, Al tells him they do and that he confessed, even though he didn't.

A few days later the trial starts where Dylan Oates, is found guilty of every person that died in the fire, including setting the fire, which means he's going away to prison for life and some change.

a/n:

R.I.P Lexi Olinsky 💔 you'll be missed!
So it was a cross over special with fire and justice but there wasn't any parts to fit Sam into, so I just did PDs part!