CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
~cross over special~
good men, chicago pd part 2

The next day at firehouse 51 while in Boden's office with, Boden himself, Severide and Casey, Cruz shows a video he took of the firefighter responsible for giving away the lockbox key to Hank, Sam and Jay and says, "Last person I would've expected. The guy's solid"

"He's clearly handing his key off. He's probably not even participating in the burglaries himself. There's gotta be a reason he's doing this" Severide says.

"Key's still out there. I think Suggs is trying to get it back"

"Cruz, did you get a plate on this car?" Jay asks. Joe shakes his head and says, "No, sorry"

"Alright. I'll run make and model, have OEMC forward any calls of suspicious activity in the zone of the burglaries to us. We'll be in front of the next one"

"Good, get an emergency pinging order on Suggs' phone. Let's bring him in fast" Voight says and the couple nod their heads.

"Bye Kells" Sam says, "Bye Matt. Chief" then her and Jay leave the office.

"You're arresting a Chicago firefighter for using CFD property in a string of burglaries" Casey says.

"Yes, and I'd like to have that firefighter in cuffs before news travels through your department" Hank says.

"I spent time with Suggs and he's not some hardened criminal, he's a good guy. He just...he seemed in over his head" Cruz says.

"Joe, I hear you. Listen, as soon as we have him, I'll talk to him. Appreciate it, Joe" Voight says, before leaving the office.

As Voight leaves the station, Jay is on the phone saying, "Okay, roll there with Burgess, send me the ping, and then Sam and I will meet you guys there" as he and Sam walk to the truck.

"Hey, Jay! Sam! Hold up" Cruz says, running over to the couple, "I'm coming with you guys"

"No, we got it, man" Jay says.

"No, no, hey, hey, listen" Joe says, stopping both Jay and Sam from walking, "You guys have a suspect because of me. I got to talk to him. That's it. I-I just gotta be there"

"Joe, you know we can't do that" Sam says.

"Please, guys. He's one of ours" Cruz pleads. Jay and Sam look at each other, contemplating whether or not to let Joe go with them and Jay says, "Alright, listen to me, you stay where I or Sam tell you to stay"

Joe then hops into the backseat of the truck, closing the door behind him and Jay looks at his wife who is staring at him and says, "What?"

"Nothing. I said nothing" Sam says, before walking over to the passenger side of the truck.

🌙🌙🌙

Jay, Sam and Joe meet up with Burgess and Upton and when the two see Cruz get out of the truck along with their co workers they look at each other surprised.

"Heyyyy, Cruz" Hailey says, then looks at Sam who shakes her head.

"Is this the place?" Jay asks.

"Yeah, um, four consecutive pings, but he hasn't moved in the last half hour, so he's gotta be around here somewhere" Kim says.

"Maybe he ditched his phone" Hailey suggests. Kim nods her head in agreement and says, "Yeah"

"Alright, let's fan out and search" Jay says, "Cruz, you gotta stay with the truck"

"No, no, I can help" Joe states.

"Trust me, man, just stay here. Okay?"

As the three searches the area for any sign of Suggs, Kim shouts, "Hailey! Jay! Sam!"

The three detectives run over to Kim who spots a running car and as they walk down the metal stairs, Jay says, "It's Suggs' car"

"Chicago PD! Anyone inside the vehicle?" Kim shouts.

"Yeah, he's in there. Let me see your hands!" Jay shouts, and when he opens the door they see that Suggs was shot and killed, "I don't see a gun, but I smell the gunpowder"

"5021 Kennedy. Squad, roll the crime lab to 1900 south Canal. I got a bona fide DOA GSWs to the head and the chest. Offender may still be in the area" Sam says, over her radio.

"Copy that, 5021 Kennedy"

"Suggs!" Joe yells, running down the stairs, "Suggs!"

"Hold on, hold on" Jay says, running towards Cruz, so he doesn't get close to the body, "Joe, wait a second! Hold on! You can't go in there"

"Come on, man. I can help him"

"No, you can't touch him or the car. You're going to contaminate it. It's a crime scene"

"Please, I..." Jay cuts Cruz off and says. "Joe, he's gone"

~~~

"Two 9mm, both contact wounds. The thing happened fast. There's no sign of struggle in the car" Burgess explains to Hank and Antonio.

"You're thinking he let the offender in the car with him?" Dawson questions.

"Yeah, I think he knew him. But, let's say the guy parks in the alley, walked downstairs to meet Suggs, shot him as soon as he got in the car"

"Boss, there's no cameras, no PODs outside or in. So they were very much alone down here" Brayden says, as he and Adam walk over to them.

"Alright, cell phone or lockbox key?" Voight asks.

"Doesn't look like the key's here. The phones on it's way to OCD tech" Jay says.

"Okay, patrol searched the whole perimeter, they got nothing, now they're doing walk and talks a couple blocks away, but the streets are dead" Kevin says.

"It's a good place for a kill" Dawson says.

"Antonio, I want you to take over the scene. Rest of us, we're gonna start digging into Suggs. Interview his family, firefighters at 66, who was he working with? Listen, firefighter brotherhood is just as strong as ours. The fact that we're investigating him, it is gonna move fast through Chicago Fire, and it's not gonna sit well. Let's get these statements before it does" Voight says.

🌙🌙🌙

Sam walks out of the bathroom stall at the district from throwing up again, to wash her hands when Trudy walks in and says, "Hey, Mrs. Chuckles"

"Hey, Sarg"

"Whoa. You need a breath mint" Platt says, taking a tin of mints from her pocket and hands a couple to the detective.

"Thanks" Sam says, popping a couple into her mouth.

"Are you feeling okay?"

Sam nods her head and says, "Yeah. Just throwing up"

Platt chuckles and says, "What, are you pregnant again?" but when Sam doesn't say anything, Trudy's eyes widen, "Oh, my god"

"Don't tell anyone yet"

Trudy smiles and says, "I won't. Congratulations" bringing the brunette into a hug. Sam smiles and says, "Thanks Trudy"

"If it's a girl, you should name her Trudy and if it's a boy, Randy"

Sam chuckles and says, "I'll talk to Jay about it"

~~~

"Well, there never was gonna be a good version of that conversation" Hank tells Jay and Kevin as they walk onto the unit, from talking to Suggs' wife down at 66, "She had no idea who he was meeting with?"

"No, no, it didn't seem like she knew anything about the burglaries either." Kevin says, as he puts his coat on the back of his chair.

"Huh. Alright, where we at with the crime scene?"

"Well, little from forensics" Antonio says, as he, Sam and Kim stand next to the whiteboard "9mm's don't pop in our system, but OCD tech ran his cell, confirms our theory"

"Suggs sent two texts after he got off the phone with Cruz" Adam says, "'This is no longer okay', 'You have to meet me'. Both were sent to a burner that called Suggs back two minutes later"

"Okay, so we know Suggs was born and raised in the housing project Aldrich Gardens. He has one prior as a juvenile, he was a low level runner for the G Park Lords, but that's when he was 15. He's been clean ever since and then he joins the fire academy at 18" Kim says.

"He made a good life for himself, too. I mean he got every commendation possible from Chicago Fire, record number of saves for 66. The guy was a bona fide hero" Sam says.

"Zero on financials. No debt, no influx. The money from the burglaries wasn't going into his account. The only oddity is he withdrew 3 thousand dollars from his savings account and he put it back in the next day" Hailey says.

"Why would a guy like this get involved in burglary?" Brayden questions, leaning on his desk.

"I don't know. Alright, start with means, opportunity. Motive will follow" Voight says.

"Hey Hank" A voice says and the team turns around to see Alderman Ray Price walking onto the unit, "I sweet talked Trudy" and Kim turns the board around so that he doesn't see where they are with the case, "You got a second?"

Hank nods his head and Price follows him into his office.

🌙🌙🌙

"Afternoon. We got a call that that burglar alarm was tripped" Sam says, as she and Brayden walk over to the front desk at the location of the alarm trip.

"Yeah, the thing was just installed, been tripping all week" the man says, "you guys were already here"

"Patrol went up in the building?" Brayden says.

"No, there's no need. It's been silent all day"

"Silent or not, we got to clear the place"

"Alright, it's your time to waste. The alarm tripped first floor and penthouse"

"You wanna take one and I'll take the penthouse?" Sam says.

"Yeah" Brayden says.

Sam waits in the elevator going up to the penthouse and cues her radio and says, "5021 Kennedy, squad. roll a couple cars to that alarm on Wabash, help us clear the building. Advise whoever's responding we're on premise"

"Copy that"

As soon as the doors to the elevators open, one of the robbers is standing there and then pushes Sam back into the elevator with whatever he was holding and runs. Sam then regains herself and takes out her gun and says over the radio, "5021 Kennedy, armed burglary in progress" then rounds the corner to see the doors closing with the robber in it, "Wearing dark clothing, got white shoes on, he's got a black mask..." then she breathes out, "Son of a bitch" pressing the down button on the elevator, and gets on her walkie, "He just headed down the elevator. Brayden, he's headed to you!"

"Copy that!" Brayden says. Sam walks down the hall to see a door open and someone running inside and shouts, "Police!" then as she opens the door she gets on her radio, "Squad, advise my partner, I got eyes on the second offender"

"Copy that, 5021 Kennedy. Will notify" dispatch says.

"Put your hands up, back away slow" Sam shouts, as the offender starts doing compressions on an older man, "I need you to back away!"

"Wait, wait, wait! If I back away, he's going to die" the offender says.

Sam spots the gun in the waistband of the offender's pants and says, "He won't okay. I'll take over, but I need you to put your hands up and back away!"

"No, I'm sorry, I'm sorry" He says, still doing compressions. Sam lunges towards him and says, "Get up against the wall, nice and slow" while pointing her gun at the offender and doing compressions with her other hand, "Get on the damn ground!"

"I'm sorry, we were never supposed to hurt anybody!" He exclaims, "He got scared and then he collapsed and he hit his head, okay? I'm sorry" then he starts to back away slowly.

"Kid, do not run!" Sam warns him.

"I'm sorry!" he says, before running off.

"Damn it" Sam says, putting her gun down, to cue her radio, still doing compressions on the older man, "5021 Kennedy advise my partner, second offender fleeing. I got a man down, cardiac arrest, roll an ambo. Porter, are you copying?"

"Copy. Sam, are you okay?" Brayden says, pointing his gun at the elevators.

"Yeah, I'm good. Be advised, second offender has a gun in his waistband. Repeat, Brayden, he is armed!"

"Copy" Brayden says, then the elevator doors open and when he goes to look inside, no ones in it, "Damn it"

Brayden walks over to the door that says 'Stairs' on it and slowly opens the door to check it out, then he gets on his radio and says, "5021 Satton, squad, we need those backup cars. I've got two offenders in the wind, one man down, I need a perimeter lock up on Wabash now!"

~~~

As Sam still continues to do compressions on the man, she hears Brayden shout, "Sam, we're coming in!"

"Alright. The apartment's not clear yet"

Brayden walks into the apartment, gun first, followed by Brett and Foster who asks, "How long?"

"Five minutes. Someone was administering before me. I got reason to believe he hit his head before he went into arrest"

"Alright, I got you" Foster says, as she and Brett kneel down next to the brunette.

"You got me?"

"Yep. Go" Foster says, as they switch positions. Sam stands up as Brayden says, "The apartments clear"

"You good?" Sam asks her partner.

"Yeah, you?"

"Yeah"

"Both offenders are in the wind. Security guard said he saw a green camry flee the entrance, no plates"

"He's just a kid. It's crazy!"

"Clear" Brett says, as they use the defibrillator on the man.

"Anything?" Foster asks.

"We got a pulse. Let's move!" Brett says, making Sam sigh in relief, "Let's get a C collar on him, keep his head steady"

Sam kneels down and lifts up the man's head and gets rid of the towel, so foster can put the collar on the man who says, "You got a makeshift c collar, that's smart"

"Yeah, it was. Wasn't me who made it"

~~~

"They stole a safe from the back bedroom" Brayden explains, as Hank, Jay, Hailey and Antonio follow him into the apartment, where the crime lab now is, going over the place, "No footage of them, cameras haven't been set up yet. No witnesses, hardly anyone's moved into the building. I have alerts out on both the offenders and the car"

"Same car, same MO. These are the guys Suggs was working with" Antonio says.

"Yeah, they had his lockbox key. They used it to open the box outside, which gave them access to the service entrance. I don't think they thought anyone was going to be in the apartment"

"Sam, how's the victim?" Hank asks as Sam walks over to them.

"Just made it to Med. He's critical but stable. This kid might have saved his life, he administered CPR. He did it well"

"And you got a good look at him?"

"I can ID him"

"Alright, we'll start with that. Get on the horn with Graphics, get a sketch going"

"Okay"

Jay walks over to his wife and says, "You okay?" Then he whispers, "the baby okay?"

Sam nods her head and says, "Yeah, of course" then she walks away to get on the phone.

🌙🌙🌙

"I got nothing" Adam says, walking onto the bullpen, while Sam stares at the sketch she described to Graphics that's now taped onto the whiteboard, "Not a single nexus so far. I've combed through every family member Suggs had. Uh, nephew, cousin, sibling, child." then he takes off his coat and sets it on the back of his chair, "No one matching that age range"

"We're still thinking these kids are our lead suspect in Suggs' murder?" Sam asks.

"Well, we've seen killers younger than 15. They are the ones Suggs gave the key to" Hank says.

"Yeah, but I caught these guys in the middle of a burglary and they were panicked, they were terrified" Sam says, then points to the sketch, "This one, he's armed, never reached for his gun, and I don't think he ever thought to"

"Well, adrenaline and fear leave a little for thought, you know?" Adam says.

"Yeah, but it does leave instinct, and his instinct was to save a man's life. He was doing CPR!"

"Then he had to have learned that somewhere" Kim says and Sam points to her agreeing, "Okay, okay, the Chicago Fire Department, they have a program like the Police explorers for at risk youth. I bet you Suggs was volunteering there. That is going to explain their connection"

"Check it out" Hank says.

🌙🌙🌙

Sam and Kim walk into a youth center, while the Chicago fire department has their at risk youth program and Kim says, "I asked Herrmann to meet us here, I got a vibe we could use a liaison"

"Yeah, it's not easy investigating a guy everybody thinks is a saint" Sam says.

"Hey Sam, Kim!" a voice yells. Sam and Kim turn around to see Herrmann and they walk back into the hall to see him, both saying hi.

"Marty, officer burgess, detective Halstead" Herrmann says, introducing everyone, "This is Marty Shaw. He runs the program here. Guy's in charge of 250 teenagers a year, and absolutely nobody envies him that"

"Thanks for meeting with us. Nice to meet you" Kim says.

"I'm here because Herrmann asked me to be" Shaw says.

"Of course. Um, we understand that you knew Suggs?"

"Very well. He's volunteered here for over a decade. This place was his heart"

"Was he close with any of the kids here?" Sam asks.

"That's what I'm saying, he was close with all of them" Shaw says. Sam takes out her work phone to show the firefighter the sketch of the second offender and says, "Do you recognize this kid?"

"Marty.." Herrmann says, after nothing was said for a minute.

"Yeah, I know him"

🌙🌙🌙

"Aiden West, 15 years old, lives in Aldrich Gardens" Kim tells Voight as Sam hands the Sergeant his file, "Same project that Suggs grew up in. Doesn't have a ton of family. He lives with his great aunt"

"He plugged in?" Antonio asks.

"I mean, it looks like loosely with the G Park Lords. He's got a couple of gang cards filled out, got one prior, he got popped slinging a nickel bag of weed. That's a huge graduation to homicide, Sarg, but...yeah, this is the kid. I'm sure of it" Sam says.

"We pulled his cell records. His cell pinged in the vicinity of the past six burglaries, and the night Suggs was killed, Aiden's phone pinged a tower within a mile of the crime scene" Kim says.

"Okay, bring him in, just step light. I don't want any of you coming out of the Gardens today with a story or a scar" Hank says.

🌙🌙🌙

As Sam and Brayden roll up to the Gardens they see a bunch of boys beating up on another kid. Sam gets out of the car shouting, "Whoa, Whoa, whoa. Hey, Hey! What the hell's going on?"

"Good afternoon, officer" a boy in a yellow jacket says.

"Hey, you good?" Sam asks the boy.

"Screw off" he says.

"You good or no?"

"He said he good. You good, right?" the kid in the yellow jacket says, picking the bleeding boy up.

"We're just joking around" He says before walking away.

"Just nonsense" a guy in a black jacket says.

"Yeah, and what? You're just watching?" Sam asks.

"Ain't got nothing to do with me"

"Okay, I see you"

"What you doing around here?" yellow jacket says.

"I don't need to tell you that"

"What" He smiles, "You wanna search me, ms officer. Huh? Go ahead"

"No, I want you to back up"

"Ain't going nowhere"

"You think I'm playing with you?"

"Sam, we're good. We're just passing through, but we're happy to circle back around if you don't move out of the way" Brayden says. Sam walks back to the car as yellow jacket says, "Yeah, do what your partner told you to do"

As the two detectives get back into the car, Brayden says, "Aiden's over there" then she gets onto her walkie, "I've got Aiden leaving the Gardens, he's wearing a navy jacket, jeans and white sneakers"

"Copy, let's give him some space. We'll take him outside the gardens. There's too many people around here" Antonio says, "We'll take the west, you guys tie in on foot"

~~~

While Sam and Brayden follow Aiden who is still walking, Sam says over her walkie, "He's still walking eastbound on Riverside"

"Copy that" Antonio says.

Brayden stops the car and Sam says, "I'm going out on foot" then gets out and walks to the sidewalk after Aiden.

Once Aiden had noticed that Sam was following him he takes off running.

"He's running" Sam says over her walkie, chasing after him, "He's going south on a gangway"

"Police! Stop!" Sam yells, still running after Aiden, "Chicago PD!" Aiden then gets stopped at a chained door, "Stop where you are. Put your hands up!"

Sam stops, and takes out her gun and points it at Aiden and says, "Police, stop. Put your hands up!" then the teenage boy takes out his gun, "Whoa, Whoa, whoa. Don't you raise that gun at me. Don't you raise it. Put it down"

Aiden looks around nervously, freightened and Sam walks a little towards him, still pointing her gun at him and says, "Hey, you're Aiden, right? Your name's Aiden? I'm Sam, I'm a detective. Listen, you saved that man's life at the burglary. I know you don't want to shoot me. Put it down. Look, I know you don't want to be in this situation any more than I do right now, so put the gun down before this gets worse. Put it down" Sam then looks up to see Brayden with his gun pointing at the boy through the chained fence and she shakes her head no, "Kid, trust me, okay? Put the gun down, and you and I can work this out together, okay? I promise, just put it down. Please, put it down. I'm begging you. Please, put it down, kid. Put it down!"

Aiden is still an anxious mess and all Sam wants to do is help him.

"You got to put it down right now" Sam says and Aiden finally throws the gun into the snow, "Okay, turn around. Get against the wall. Against the wall"

Aiden turns around and Sam goes to pat him down before cuffing him.

🌙🌙🌙

Sam walks Aiden into interrogation and takes his cuffs off then asks, "Your hands okay?" who then nods. Hank walks into the room with a file in hand and says, "Aiden, Sergeant Hank Voight" then sits down across from the teenager, as Sam closes the door, "You know detective Halstead. You understand why you're here, right?" and Aiden nods his head, "Then you know you're in some trouble. What we want to know now is..what happened to the man you were working with?"

Hank then puts the tablet in front of the boy and shows him pictures of Suggs' at the crime scene who sighs and says, "Are these real?"

"Yeah, they're real. What happened, Aiden?"

"It's all my fault"

"Did you kill him? Cause I think Suggs was handing you and the other kid a key. You'd drive up, he'd hand it off...but when you went to give it back, something went wrong. He told you he wasn't gonna do it anymore"

"You're wrong about it all"

"Okay, what's right?"

"Suggs didn't do nothing wrong, it was all me" Aiden says making Hank and Sam look at each other, "He never gave me a key, I stole it"

"So you stole a key off of him multiple times?" Hank asks and Aiden nods his head yes, "Aiden. I know that's not true"

"It is"

"Mhmm"

"It is, it's what I'm saying. I want to write it down or sign it or whatever I have to...a confession? I can do that, right? That's what I wanna do. I don't want a lawyer or a phone call or whatever, I just want to write my confession down and sign it off. I stole the key, I did the burglary. It was all me, not Suggs"

"Sarg, can I talk to you in the hall, please" Sam says, opening the door. Hank follows Sam out into the hall, along with Antonio and Brayden who were in the viewing room.

"What are you doing?" Antonio asks.

"The kid is lying. It feels wrong he's gonna end up eating that murder." Sam says.

"Yeah, he just confessed to half of it. He's only lying about the key. Keep pressing him, he's gonna crack"

"Well, maybe that's why we shouldn't. The kids protecting Suggs. I think he's trying to be brave, noble" Brayden says.

"It doesn't matter why he wants to talk"

"Sorry. Yo, Sarg" Kevin says, walking down the hall to where the group is, "A friend of yours is downstairs"

~~~

"If we go back in that room, that kids gonna incriminate himself for murder" Sam says, as she, Antonio and Brayden are now back on the bullpen, where the rest of the team is, either at their desks are looking over the whiteboard.

"Or he's gonna confess" Antonio says.

"Falsely"

"Come on, you can't know that" Antonio says, as Hank walks back onto the unit from talking with Ray Price.

"He's not a killer. I don't think either of them are."

"Okay, look, aidens phone puts him in the area and we recovered a 9mm on him"

"I don't think he's capable of pulling a trigger. I saw something you didn't see, you got to trust me"

"What we know for sure is the kids lying. Suggs was willingly handing that key off. Question is why" Hank says, "and who's the kid working with?"

"Sarg, we're close to something" Kevin states.

"We did a cross check of all boys in the Garden who've been popped in the last two years, 15 and under" Kim says.

"and a Chris Howard kicks out. He lives on the same block as Aiden, and there's a green Toyota Camry registered to his aunts name"

"That's the same make and model seen at the last burglary"

"Okay, so is it just a feeling?" Hank asks Sam. Sam nods her head and says. "Yeah"

"Well, let's talk to this Chris. Do it someplace quiet, off the record, no one writes anything down. Let's hope you're right" Hank says, before walking into his office.

🌙🌙🌙

Jay and Sam walk down the stairs with Chris where they had found Suggs' body to meet up with Voight who brought Aiden and says, "Chris?"

"Yeah, don't worry. Nobody snitched, okay?" Jay says, "we found you both through police work"

"Why the hell are we down here?"

"Why are you here?" Voight says then points behind Sam and Jay, "cause that's where Suggs was killed."

Aiden walks forward towards the spot where Suggs was found and Sam and Jay move backwards to stand next to Hank.

"Suggs is dead?" Chris asks.

"Yeah, Suggs is dead. Hey. The other reason you're down here is cause there's no cameras, no recordings, no cops. So what you say here, stays here" Hank says.

"Look, I already told you I would...I would write it down"Aiden says.

"Yeah, I know, Aiden. I remember what you said. Now I don't think you get it, okay? Listen. Suggs was a Chicago firefighter, he dedicated his life to this city. And believe me, this city is dedicating everything it has to clearing his murder. And right now, you two are about to end up on the wrong side of that dedication, you understand? I'm talking about life in prison. I'm gonna tell you what I know. I know Suggs gave you that key, I know you two committed those burglaries, I know Suggs wanted out, and he ended up dead. What I don't know is why?"

"I've known a lot of guys like Suggs, guys who just want to help people for a living. There's no way a man like that, a good man, is gonna give you that key, knowing what you're gonna do with it, unless he had a damn good reason" Sam says.

"That's right, and we want to know what's the reason, so, you force him?"

"What?" Aiden says.

"Aiden, he's trying.." Hank cuts Chris off and says. "Did you make him do it?!"

"Nobody forced anything.."

"Alright, then why?!" Hank yells, cutting Aiden off.

"I didn't make him do anything"

"Aiden, stop!" Chris says.

"If you're lying to protect him it means you knew he was a good man" Jay says.

"Of course I know he's a good man, but..." Aiden says.

"So why would he give you the key?" Sam shouts.

"It's not like we had a choice!"

"Aiden you're not helping us!" Chris says.

"I'm not hurting us either, bro, it's over!"

"What do you mean?"

"He's dead! That's cause of us"

"Talk to me" Hank says.

"Look, Suggs tried everything else, y'all. It only made it worse. We weren't ever going to hurt anybody. We were just supposed to rob a couple places until we could pay it off, and then that was it"

"Pay for what?"

"Just a couple more places, and that was it!"

"Pay for what?!" Hank shouts.

"Our freedom! That's it. We just...were just buying our way out"

🌙🌙🌙

"Vyshonne Kamen" Jay says, taping his picture onto the board, "he's an enforcer for the g park lords. It's his job to keep kids in line. He's known for '20, no cover'. If a kid steps out, they get 20 minutes of a beating"

"Which was what must've been happening when me and Brayden rolled up at the Gardens" Sam says, making her husband nod.

"South homicides picked up two 16 year olds beaten to death in the past six months"

"That's the guy we saw in the gardens" Brayden says.

"Aiden and Chris got plugged in with Kamen when they were nine. Ran dime bags, but between 9 and 25, you gotta grow up and neither of those kids are hard" Hailey states.

"Right, they wanted out. Aiden said Suggs understood and he offered to help them." Jay says.

"So he gave them the lockbox key?" Kim says.

"At first Suggs went to Kamen, tried to talk to him, got shut down. Then he went back, offered him money, that's the 3 thousand. Kamen told him that the price tag was 100 grand. Then Kamen threatened Suggs, Suggs' kids, the boys"

"Wrong thing for the right reasons" Adam says.

"Right, so we're guessing that Kamen found out about the key and he saw a much bigger payday, then Suggs wanted out, Kamen killed him, took the key from the kids." Jay says.

"Alright, well, he's got to be at the Gardens." Hailey says.

"Yeah, but we can't pick him up" Voight says.

"What do you mean?"

"All we have is a conversation that's supposed to be off record" Sam says.

"So put it on record"

"Look, even if we got it on the record, brought Kamen in, had enough to charge murder, we still don't have proof of coercion, and the word of two 15 year old boys with priors, who are guilty of seven burglaries is not gonna go far with the DA"

"Just got a message from Med" Antonio says reading his phone, "the victim from the burglary died about a half hour ago. Kids are looking at felony murder"

Everyone sighs and Sam runs her fingers through her jet black hair, frustrated.

"What's the move now?" Kevin asks.

"The truth. We tell the kids exactly what we have. Look, we trusted him, let's see if the kid trusts us"

🌙🌙🌙

After getting Aiden to wear a wire and getting Kamens confession on tape, Antonio and Kevin talk with him in interrogation. Trudy and Sam are in the viewing room and the Sergeant says, "stand up guy"

"Yeah. The boys back in holding?" Sam asks.

"No, I'm keeping them downstairs with me until the ASA signs off on a deal. Looks like it'll be a pretty good one." Trudy says, then hands Sam a Manila envelope, "what you asked for. Not a bad haul" then leaves the room passing by Brayden who walks in.

"We get anything yet?" Porter asks.

"No, he knows better than to talk"

"Yeah. ballistics came back on Aidens gun, wasn't a match. You were right to trust your instincts"

"Why'd you back me? You let me talk Aiden down when, probably, it didn't make sense to"

Brayden shrugs and says, "you looked at me. With Aiden, you looked at me and I got it. I trusted you. I trusted you from the day I met you, and if I was gonna follow someone blind, I'd follow you" then he walks away, "See you later"

Sam watches her partner leave and says, "Yeah"

🌙🌙🌙

"So Suggs was planning the burglaries with them?" Cruz asks, as he, Jay and Sam walk down the halls of firehouse 51.

"We think he thought he was protecting them. He was making sure no one got hurt." Sam says.

"Right, but that's a detail that won't matter much" Cruz says, making them stop, "hey, um, you sure you wanna do this? I mean, Boden and I, we got her here but...she wasn't too happy to come talk to you, Jay. I can't blame her. She's gonna give you a hard time"

"Yeah, that's okay. I wanted to bring in a collection from 21 for her and Suggs' kids and...I want to tell her that he was exactly who she thought he was" Jay says. Sam grabs ahold of her husband's hand and smiles at him before they walk into Bodens office.

a/n;

If you're wondering why this chapter was so long was because I replaced Jay in most of the scenes with Sam and Jay was basically in every scene so I had to write Sam into every scene and it was 5585 words!🤭
Counting down the chapters til the end of the book; 9 left!
Sam and Trudy have been one of my favorite bropts in this series since literally the first chapter I ever wrote for Sam! 💖🔥