CHAPTER ELEVEN
descent

Sam sits down across from her brother in a booth at a diner close to the house and says, "So, what's up?"

"I got a call from Stateville. Dad wants to see you"

Sam sat their frozen. She couldn't move. Couldn't talk. There's no way in hell she was going to see him.

Sawyer waves a hand in front of the girls face and says, "Sam? Sam!"

Sam gets out of her daze and says, "Huh"

"Did you hear what I said?"

Sam holds onto her stomach and rushes to the bathroom to throw up. A few minutes later, Sam returns to the booth and takes a sip of her water.

"You okay?"

"No, I'm not okay. He got my mom killed and he wants to talk? No way in hell"

"I think you should. At least once. For closure at least"

"Closure? I don't think so. This is such bullshit. He killed my mom. There's no way he deserves to talk or see me" She says, running her hands through her jet black hair. Sam then checks her phone after hearing it ding to see a text from Jay saying the team needs to meet up, "I gotta go. Thanks for telling me, Sawyer. I'll see you later" then she gets up, leaving the diner.

Once the fall air hits her, she leans against the brick building with tears running down her face, trying to calm down her breathing.

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"Where's Antonio, he's not picking up" Adam says, hanging up his phone as he, Hank and Hailey walked over to the group who are all vested up getting the long guns out.

"So, what's going on?" Hailey asks.

"Brayden busted some punk this morning with an ounce of heroin in his car, gave up a drug house. Supposed to be moving a lot of fentanyl. We're gonna hit it, and see what we can find"

"Yeah, and who we can flip" Kevin says.

"Yeah, so I want you to bust them all, too. Junkies, dealers, girlfriends, everyone." Hank says, then looks at Kim, "Hey, you know where Antonio is?"

"No, I've been calling him but..." Kim says, shaking her head. Jay looks over at his wife, who looks way to into her thoughts and says, "Baby, what's up?"

"Nothing"

"Sam.."

"Later" she says, making Jay sigh. 

"Right. So Sam, Burgess, Jay and I will take the front. Atwater, Ruzek, Hailey, you guys take the back" Brayden says.

"Alright, hit it. I'll see you all back at the district" Voight says, walking away.

"Do we have any names or pictures?" Hailey asks.

"No, we're flying blind. But that makes it fun, right?" Brayden smiles. Adam laughs and sarcastically says, "Yeah"

~~~

Brayden, Sam, Jay and Kim walk inside the house up the stairs with their guns drawn when they see two men and Brayden says, "Chicago PD, nobody move!"

"Cops! Cops!" a woman yells, running into the apartment. The group moves into the apartment and Jay yells, "Nobody move! Hands in the air, now!"

"Runners to the right" Sam shouts.

"Hands in the air!" Brayden yells.

"Hands against the wall now!" Jay shouts, as Sam points her gun at the guys kneeling on the ground.

"This has got to be some sort of mistake" a man says.

"This is a mistake? What is all this, aspirin?" Jay says, pointing to the bag on the table full of yellow pills.

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Sam sits in the locker room, her face buried into her hands when she feels a hand on her knee.

"Hey, what's going on? How'd the meet up with Sawyer go?" Jay asks. Sam lifts her head up and says, "He told me my dad wants to see me"

"What?" He says, wrapping his arms around her.

"I don't want to see him, Jay" Sam says, crying into her husband's arms. Jay kisses the top of her head and says, "And you don't have to"

~~~

"Alright, Patrick Carter" Brayden says, holding up his picture to tape onto the whiteboard, "He's a mid level player according to Narcotics. All his priors are cocaine related, so he must have just started pushing synthetic opioids"

"Controls on legit oxy are getting tight, so this fake stuff, it's everywhere" Burgess states. Kevin looks down at the file in his hand and says, "Yeah, killing a lot of people, too"

"Eleven overdoses last month in that neighborhood" Sam says.

"Hey, why don't I take a run at this guy, see if I can get him to flip up to his supplier" Antonio speaks up from his desk.

"Ah, too late. He lawyered up the second they brought him into interrogation" Voight says, "Alright, let's dig into Carter's phone, digital footprint, known associates. See if we can ID who's supplying the pills. Hey, Antonio, give me a sec?" then the two walk towards his office, where Voight asks him about why he was flying solo at the drug house they had hit.

🌙🌙🌙

Sam walks into firehouse 51 with Gracie on her hip and Wyatt next to her when they see squad three playing cards at their usual spot. Wyatt walks over to them, giving them all handshakes and highfives and sits next to Capp and says, "Ready for a rematch?"

Capp laughs and says, "You know it"

"Have fun you guys" Sam says, as she and Gracie walk into the common room to see everyone eating, "Hey everyone"

"Aye! Look who it is" Herrmann smiles. Kelly smiles getting up from his chair to give his best friend a hug and kiss his goddaughter on her cheek, grabbing her and says, "Hey guys. What are you doing here?"

"Can we talk?" Sam asks.

"Of course" Kelly says, as Stella walks over to them and grabs Gracie from him.

The best friend duo walk into Kelly's office and he closes the door behind him and says, "What's up?"

"My dad wants to see me"

"What?...You're not going to right?"

"No. I don't think so. I don't know, Kells. I've been doing a lot of thinking the last couple days. Sawyer said I could get closure"

"Closure? Are you kidding. He got your mom killed. What kind of closure can you get from a narcissist?" Kelly questions, making the brunette shrug. Sam tears up, making Kelly upset seeing his best friend like this and pulls her into a hug, "I'm here for you, Sammy. Okay? Us against the world remember? So, if you do decide to see him. I'll be there right next to you"

Sam looks up at her best friend and sniffles saying, "Thanks Kells. I don't know what I'd do without you"

Meanwhile, back in the common room, Stella is sitting at the table eating her breakfast with Gracie on her lap and says, "Are you hungry? Do you want some hash browns?"

Gracie smiles, nodding her head, as Stella takes a fork full of hash browns and feeds it to the three year old. Gracie then lays her head on stella's shoulder, rubbing her small hand up and down the firefighter's arm, making Stella smile.

~~~

As Sam and Gracie go to leave they see Wyatt put his cards down and smiles saying, "full freakin' house! And I'm not talking about the show"

"Damn it" Capp groans. Sam laughs and says, "Again, Capp?"

"Don't remind me" The older man answers.

🌙🌙🌙

After dropping the kids off at the house with Lucy, Sam meets up with the team at Antonio's apartment where Hank had texted her that Eva, Antonio's daughter, was kidnapped.

As the team is spread around the apartment, Hank nods his head at Jay who says, "So, Antonio got a call from Eva at 1:24. Then the last call from Eva's phone was from the kidnapper at 2:21"

"I called OCD tech lap and put an emergency ping on Eva's phone" Hailey states. Adam and Kevin walk into the apartment and the officer says, "Already checked all the outside doors and windows. There's no sign of forced entry"

"There's no sign of a struggle outside the house either" Kevin says, as Antonio walks out of Eva's room and says. "That's because she never made it home. She always puts her backpack right here on the kitchen counter. It's not here, so.."

"I mean, you sure it's not something to do with school? Maybe a boy from school" Adam says.

"The guy on the phone said I made a mistake. That dealer, Paddy Carter, wasn't supposed to get arrested" Antonio explains, "That's because I wasn't at that drug house to do a buy bust. I was there to score oxy for me. I'm sorry guys"

Sam takes a sharp deep breath after Antonio's confession. She promised to protect this unit, her family. But if she couldn't even protect Antonio, one of the strongest guys she's ever met, then how can she protect everyone else?

🌙🌙🌙

Hank and Sam walk down into the roll up where Patrick Carter is being held in the cage who says, "I assume I'm free to go"

"Where is she?" Sam asks.

"Where's who?"

"Antonio Dawson's daughter" Hank says.

"Daughter? What the hell are you talking about?"

"You had a deal with Antonio. You think he screwed you, so you had someone grab his daughter"

"You think I'm stupid? I'm trying to get out of jail. Why would I kidnap a cop's daughter?"

"You better be telling the truth, Paddy. Or you and me? We're gonna have a problem"

~~~

Sam and Hank leave the roll up to walk back onto the main floor of the district where they see Antonio walking down the stairs with Trudy behind him and Hank says, "Hey, hey, hey. I told you to stay upstairs"

"What'd he say, Hank?" Antonio questions.

"Nothing. He said he had no idea what we were talking about"

"He's lying"

"Maybe not. I checked the logs. He hasn't had any visitors or phone calls since he's been in lockup" Platt says.

"You check the security cameras?"

"I did. Until now, the only person he talked to was you, and we should probably make sure that conversation is accidentally erased"

"Okay, we'll take care of that later. Come on, let's go" Voight says, as they start walking back up the stairs, "Okay, so the question is. Do we want to do this off the books, or do we want to involve CPD and FBI? But if we go big, you're gonna have to come clean about everything"

Dawson shakes his head and says, "I don't care about any of that. I just want to find Eva. I'll do whatever you want, whatever gives us the best chances"

Hank takes out his ringing cell phone and says, "Jay, what do you got?...good. Chase it down" then he hangs it up, putting it back in his pocket, "Jay and Hailey just found a witness"

~~~

Kim, Sam, Brayden, Adam and Kevin are in the tech room of the district when Hank and Antonio walk in who says, "What do we got?"

"We pinged Eva's phone" Kim says, handing Voight an evidence bag with Eva's smashed phone in it, "It was recovered on the median of I-94 near the Damen underpass. I guess he tossed it out the window. Unfortunately, the nearest camera is two mile markers up the highway"

"Prints?"

"Not yet, but we did hand deliver it to the lab, so..." Sam says. Jay and Hailey walk into the room and Hailey rushes over to the computer to pull up surveillance footage of when Eva was kidnapped and says, "We pulled surveillance from an apartment two blocks from Antonio's house. It matches the timeline of the kidnapping" once she pulls up the video she turns to Antonio, "You sure you want to see this?"

Antonio nods his head and says, "Play it"

Hailey hits play and the team watches the man hit Eva and put her in the trunk of his car.

"Okay, right there. Should be able to pull the plate" Kevin says. Hailey takes a screenshot and pulls up the plate which is clear as day to read and Dawson says, "Run that plate"

Adam types on his computer and says, "Alright, vehicle is registered to a Jason Rizzo"

Hank turns the computer around to show Dawson and says, "Antonio, you recognize this guy?"

"He looks familiar. I think he might have worked with Carter" Antonio states.

"He's got two priors for possession, one for aggravated battery, and...He did two years in stateville for statutory rape"

Everyone stays quiet for a moment, then Adam says, "Address is in Uptown. 804 Christopher"

"Alright, listen up, before we make our first move I'm gonna make something crystal clear. From this moment on, we are off the books. You wanna walk, walk now. No one's gonna judge you" Hank says and everyone stays put.

"Let's go get Eva" Sam says.

🌙🌙🌙

The team is slowly moving, one behind the other, with their guns drawn to the house of Jason Rizzo. Adam, Brayden and Kim go around back as the rest head up the porch steps to the front of the house.

Jay kicks in the door and they enter, quietly clearing the house out. Jay then kicks in another door, seeing a man on the ground next to the bed and says, "Hands up!"

"Get up!" Sam shouts. The guy stands up with his hands up and says, "Okay. Who are you? What do you want?"

Sam goes to pat him down and Kevin says, "Where's Rizzo?"

"He's not here"

"Where is he?" Sam asks.

"I don't know, I swear!"

"Why were you hiding?" Jay questions.

"Because I'm scared of Rizzo! He's an addict. I've been trying to kick him out for a month, but he won't leave!"

"When's the last time you seen him?" Antonio asks.

"About an hour ago. I told him I was gonna change the locks and he said he'd kill me"

"Was he with anybody?!"

"I don't know. Whenever he's around, I stay in here with the door locked" The man says as Antonio walks away. Jay points to the bed and says, "Sit down, shut up and don't move"

A few minutes later, Sam walks up the stairs to the attic where Antonio is and says, "Antonio, there's something in the garage we need you to take a look at"

Sam and Antonio walk into the garage where the rest of the team is to see a backpack on the ground.

"It's Eva's" Antonio breathes out.

"So, along with the backpack we found, uh, zip ties, duct tape. Standard kidnap kit" Adam says.

"The blood on the rag is fresh" Kevin says.

"Okay, so that means that Eva was just here. So, let's hit the streets find some witnesses. Come on, pull it together, let's go" Voight says, leaving the garage with the team behind him when Antonio's phone starts ringing.

"Dawson" He answers, walking towards the group.

"Hey, put it on speaker" Hank says. Dawson puts his phone on speaker and says, "Who am I talking to?"

"You're talking to the guy who's gonna put a bullet in your daughter's head if Paddy Carter don't walk"

"I'm working on it. It's gonna take a little longer"

"You got four hours detective"

"Don't hang up. I need proof of life" Antonio says, as Sam takes a hold of Jay's hand and squeezes, trying not to remember when Wyatt and Denise were kidnapped.

"What's that mean?"

"I need to know my daughter's alive"

"No, You need to release Paddy Carter"

"No, I need to know my daughter is alive. If I don't hear her voice, then you got no deal!"

"Daddy, please help me! Help me!" Eva screams through the phone.

"Shut up!" Rizzo says.

"Let me go!"

"Sweetie, don't worry. I'm coming for you, just be strong" Antonio says, reassuring his daughter. Sam squeezes her husband's hand tighter, keeping in the tears.

"Shut up! You got four hours, detective, or I kill her"

"Hang on, hang on. Let's figure this out. You and me, let's...hey you there? Rizzo, you there?"

"Hey, hey. He hung up" Hank whispers, "Alright, we're already up on Antonio's phone. I want you to trace that call" he tells Hailey, "Let's hit the streets. We're gonna find some witnesses. Let's go"

🌙🌙🌙

After finally getting something out of Carter, Sam, Jay, Adam and Brayden head to a scrapyard in Cicero.

"You Gary McCoy?" Jay yells out to the man who's walking across the yard.

"Yeah?"

The four walked over to him as Sam asks, "When was the last time you talked to your friend, Jason Rizzo?"

"None of your business"

"That's the wrong answer"

"I'm gonna look around over here" Brayden says, as he and Adam walk away.

"Did you talk to him today?" Jay questions.

"You got a warrant or something?" McCoy asks.

"I don't need a warrant to ask you questions"

"Questions about a kidnapping. What do you know about that?" Sam asks.

"I fix cars and I drink beer" McCoy says.

"Right"

"Yo, check it out. It's Rizzo's car back there" Brayden shouts.

"Oh, ho, you better start talking fast, cause things are gonna go bad"

"Go bad? What the hell are you gonna do about it"

Sam rolls her eyes as Adam and Brayden walk back over to them.

"Rizzo, switched out his car here" Adam says.

"What'd you give him, Gary?" Brayden asks.

"Make and Model, now"

"I don't know what you're talking about" McCoy says, walking away. Sam grabs his arm and says, "You're not going anywhere"

McCoy pushes Sam and says, "Do not grab me, lady"

Sam falls back into Jays arms and Brayden immediately punches Gary square in the face, "Hey! Come here. Come here"

"What is wrong with you, huh?" Adam says.

"You okay?" Jay questions. Sam nods her head and says, "Yeah, I'm good"

Brayden grabs ahold of McCoy's face and says, "Say you're sorry. Say you're sorry!"

"It's fine." Sam states, "We're talking about a kidnapping here, Gary. That's life in prison for Rizzo and for you if your don't cooperate. What car did you give Rizzo?"

🌙🌙🌙

"The car's out front. Rizzo is in room 201" Kim says, jogging over to the group and Sam helps the brunette get vested up to take down Rizzo and save Eva.

"Okay, listen up. We're moving in fast and dark. This offender is armed and dangerous, so you all have a green light. Let's hit it" Voight says, as the team walks away.

~~~

After finding Eva, the paramedics arrive and put her in the back of the ambulance, so they quickly get her to Med.

Hank walks over to his team minus Antonio and says, "Rizzo's still in the wind"

"Yeah, but his trucks still here" Kim says.

"You know, maybe he got spooked when we rolled in and left on foot" Brayden suggests.

"Alright, so let's fan out. Talk to witnesses, look for cameras, so whatever we gotta do. Just find this prick" Voight says.

🌙🌙🌙

Adam, Sam and Hank roll up into the old factory where they see Rizzo scoring some drugs and once he sees them he starts running. The three get out of the car and race after him as he heads into the factory.

They take out their guns, following after Rizzo and Adam yells, "Chicago PD! Stop running!"

After a couple minutes of running, Adam tackles Rizzo to the ground who says, "Get off me!"

"Hey!" Voight says, pointing his gun at Rizzo, "Make a move. Please. Come on"

"You won't do it"

"Then move!"

"Come on, I want you to do it"

Antonio then rushes in and Sam tries her best to keep him back, "Antonio, hey, hey. Stop"

"Whoa. What are you doing? We got this" Hank tells him.

"Just give me five minutes with him"Antonio breathes out.

"No, Antonio"

"Five minutes"

Hank looks back at Adam who has Rizzo in a headlock and says, "Give me your gun"

"Quit struggling" Adam demands.

"Adam" Voight says, indicating to let Rizzo go.

"What's up, you wanna talk?" Rizzo smartmouths, as Antonio punches him, then drags him to the ground and starts punching him over and over and over again.

Sam looks over at Voight and says, "Hank"

"Hey, hey! Come on, easy. That's enough! That's enough! It's over" Voight says, dragging Antonio away.

"Get up" Adam says.

"How old is Eva anyway?" Rizzo asks, getting off the ground, "She 18 yet? She was good"

The blood starts to boil in Antonio's veins and he runs towards Rizzo and pushes him out the window that was covered with wood panels.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa" Adam says, as they all look out the window to see Rizzo dead on the ground.

"Whoa, what the hell just happened?" Sam breathes, running her hands through her hair.

"Antonio" Hank says, as the two walk away from the window.

"He got what he deserved" Antonio says, his eyes narrowed.

"Antonio, you gotta shut up and listen to me" Hank says, as Sam and Adam look out the window again, "Are you clean right now?"

"What?"

"Hey, be honest. I don't have time to play games"

"Antonio!" Adam says.

"Today. It was a few hours ago" Antonio says, making Hank, Adam and Sam sighed in defeat, "I needed a little energy so I..."

"Whoa. Stop talking" Hank says, as they listen to the sirens coming closer to them. Adam groans and says, "What the hell are we gonna do?"

Hank walks back over to the window to take another look at Rizzo, then turns around to look at the three.

a/n;

Whoa!
If anyone remembers this was the winter finale from season 6, so this is where everything starts to go more down hill for Antonio 😔
Sam likes to consider herself the mom of the unit, she wants to protect her family, so when one of them is in trouble, Sam comes to rescue. Will she come to Antonio's rescue too?