CHAPTER NINETEEN
the forgotten

"You're what?!" Denise exclaims, getting off the couch to go hug her adoptive parents, "Oh, my god. This is so awesome!"

"Wow mom. I can't believe I'm gonna be a big brother again" Wyatt smiles, hugging his mother and Jay. Gracie sits on the couch looking at everyone confused, while moving her hair out of her face.

Hank smiles, bringing -who he considers his daughter- into a hug and says, "Congratulations Sammy" then brings Jay into a hug.

"Thanks Hank"

"Since everyone is in a good mood, can I go hang out with Max?" Denise asks. Jay looks at her and says, "No" and Denise immediately frowns.

🌙🌙🌙

"Where we at?" Hank asks, walking onto the unit. The Intelligence unit's CI, Lexie Wright, who everyone adores, has been kidnapped and hopefully not killed.

"I talked to a CI close to LeMonte's crew. Far as he knows, he didn't order a hit" Antonio says.

"I ran Lexie's phone records. One caller popped" Sam says, taping his picture onto the board, "Keith Stinson, he owns Scarlet Lace, the club where Lexie dances. He's got a prior for sexual assault, called her four times. Last call was at 4:22 a.m, and or so before the witness heard the screaming"

"Techs found Stinson's prints in three places in her apartment" Brayden adds.

"Well, I'm sure he wasn't happy Lexie was moving back to Ohio" Hank says.

"Right, so he probably went over there, he confronted her."

"Alright, you and me. Let's scoop him up"

"Sarg, why don't you let me and Sam go?"

"What are you saying, Brayden?"

"Just saying let's get him the right way"

Hank nods then walks into his office.

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Sam and Brayden walk into the strip club, that Keith Stinson owns to question him about Lexie, one of his dancers.

"Keith Stinson?" Brayden asks.

"Yeah"

"I'm detective Porter and this is detective Halstead"

"This about Lexie?" Stinson asks and Sam raises her eyebrow in suspicion, "The news travels fast"

"Why don't you come down to the district. We'll talk about it"

"Sorry. I can't leave the club. Maybe.." Sam cuts the man off and asks. "Where were you earlier this morning?"

"Hold on. You think I had something to do with it?"

"Just answer the question" Brayden says.

"I was here until 6 a.m. Ask my girls"

"Besides women on your payroll, do you have surveillance to back that up" Sam asks.

"Yeah, lots of it. Feel free to take a look"

"You ever been to Lexie's apartment?" Brayden asks.

"Of course, we've known each other for years"

"Alright, when's the last time you spoke with her?"

"Early morning, 3 a.m., end of her last shift. She took off in a hurry. Some creepy customer was looking for her. Said he wanted to give her a big tip. Kept calling her to make sure she was okay, but she didn't pick up"

"What'd this customer look like?"

"White dude, tall. That's about all I remember. Didn't get a good look at him. I'm telling you, me and Lexie are cool. I want to help anyway I can. Just let me know what you need"

Brayden hands Stinson his card and says, "We will"

As the partners walk away, Sam sees one of the dancers looking at her and she looks at Brayden and says, "I'll catch up with you in a sec" who nods at her and the brunette walks over to the woman, "I'm Sam. CPD. Do you know Lexie?"

"Yeah, I heard what happened. Name's Devon"

"Was she having problems with anyone, Devon? Boyfriend, customer.."

"Nah, no boyfriend. As far as customers..." Devon chuckles, "She's pretty tough. I mean, she can handle just about anybody that came her way. What y'all doing here anyway? CPD usually don't do nothing when dancers disappear"

"What do you mean?"

"A few years ago, when dancers started going missing, three ended up in dumpsters, and the others just...they just never came home. Still missing today"

"Yeah, I've been on the job for awhile. I haven't heard about any of this"

"Exactly. Four strippers on the south side go missing, cops don't do nothing. Rich white girl disappears, and y'all bring in the damn FBI"

"When you're done working, I want you to come down to the district. I want to take a statement" Sam says, giving Devon her card.

"If I come down, you got to promise to do something"

"You have my word" Sam says, before walking back over to her partner and telling him what Devon had just told her.

"Wait, three murdered dancers and several others missing?" Brayden asks.

"That's what she said"

"Does she sound credible?"

"She sounded scared. I'm going to talk to her tonight, but I think we need to start digging into this right away"

Brayden takes out his buzzing phone, indicating he got a message then reads it and says, "Wait a second. Might not have to. Asset forfeiture got a hit on Lexie's debit card"

"They have an ID?"

"Yeah, a guy named Tony Hill. Caught on security camera using it at a convenience store two hours ago. He's a three time convicted felon. He lives right around the corner from Lexi"

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Adam and Hank walk back onto the bullpen from questioning a suspect, Tony Hill, and as soon as they see the team stare at them Hank says, "What's up?"

Sam folds her arms over each other and says, "Techs ran the unknown blood you saw at Lexie's place. Came back as a white male"

"Okay, that rules out Hill"

"I had them run the sample against DNA from the other murdered dancers, and it was a match. Sarg, we're chasing a serial killer"

~~~

After getting another board out, containing evidence and information about the murdered dancers, Sam walks over to it, pointing to one of a pictures and says, "Okay. This is Shanele Martin. She was found in a dumpster with 18 puncture wounds to her face and torso. She was sexually assaulted. Her mother reported her missing, but never heard back from CPD until they found the body. Techs also found the offender's saliva on her body" then she points to another picture, "Rachel Jones, 18 puncture wounds, also face and torso, found in a dumpster near Garfield Park." then she points to the next picture, "Gina Ramirez, same old story. 18 puncture wounds, found near Garfield park, dancer. All these happened in 2016. According to the M.E reports, he kept them alive for 24 hours, then he stabbed them to death and tossed their bodies into dumpsters like they're trash. All three victims, same M.O"

"So, homicide knew they had a serial" Antonio says.

"Not necessarily, they only had DNA on one of the victims. Maybe they were still investigating" Hailey says.

"Or maybe they just didn't give a rats ass"

"Possible"

"Three victims, cooling off period, that's serial killer 101" Adam says, "The feds were called in, right?"

"There are no FBI reports in any other files that I've looked through, and these girls are still missing" Sam says, pointing to 5 pictures at the bottom of the board where the girls are missing but never found, "All dancers, all lived near Garfield park"

"Who was the lead on Homicide?" Jay asks.

"Leo Hernandez handled all three cases"

"I know Leo, he's good police. You call him?" Hank asks.

"Yeah, I called. Got word back that he's out of state, watching a witness in protective custody. His whereabouts are unknown"

"Alright. Who was Hernandez's area commander at the time?"

Sam takes a deep breath and says, "Brian Kelton"

"Okay, what else we got?"

"Looks like the killings stopped for about three years. No homicides, no disappearances with the same M.O or DNA until now"

"But how do we know the offender kept the girls alive for 24 hours?"

"Ligature marks and bruising patterns on their bodies. Techs also found trace amounts of unique cement granules on their clothes, which can't be a coincidence, cause they don't exist. It means he's keeping them in some kind of cellar"

"Okay, okay, so that means Lexie might still be alive. I mean, she's only been missing, what? Six hours?" Burgess says.

"Alright, so hit the streets. Talk to your CIs, especially your dancer CIs, and dig back into those old case files. See if there's anything we can use" Hank says, "Look, I don't need to tell you guys how much Lexie's helped us over the years. Now's the time that we do the same for her. And if this animal keeps to his routine, that means we got about 18 hours left to find her alive. Let's go"

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"Got a witness saw the blue van pull out of a loading dock" Antonio says, as he, Sam and Jay meet up with Hank at a location where the blue van (that was spotted outside Lexie's apartment, the night she was taken) was pinged to.

"I checked the records, this place has been empty for years" Sam says as they walk through the alleyway, "Up for sale by a company in Gary"

As they enter the building, Hank says, "We got a lot of ground to cover. We move fast and quiet. Stay in the shadows. We sneak up on him, not the other way around. Sam, Jay, take the back. Antonio, you and me"

~~~

After Hank and Antonio found the killer's basement, where they found pictures of the victims and souvenirs, they also fall upon a body. Now the crime lab has arrived to go over the scene.

"Sarg, his name's Roy Calison. He's married, father of three. He was inspecting lines down here for a possible renovation. He must have crossed with the offender" Antonio explains to Hank and Sam, "Supervisor hasn't heard from him, so he came to check"

"Supervisor see anything?" Hank asks.

"No, he got here about the same time as us"

"Alright, let's check PODs in the neighborhood. This guys been using this place for years. There's gotta be witnesses" Hank says, as they go to walk up the stairs when someone catches their attention. "Sergeant Voight. You need to see this"

The three follow after the forensics tech to the back room where the killer tortures his victims and another tech lifts up the floorboard, revealing skeleton bones and says, "There's at least four sets of human skeletal remains, all female. Decomp pattern suggests they've been here for years"

"Any read on cause of death?" Antonio asks.

"Difficult to say, but these look like sharp puncture wounds on the clavicle"

"They were stabbed" Sam says.

"Id say so. All their clothes have multiple punctures in the fabric. Same sharp instrument"

"Alright, I need these bodies worked fast for trace DNA, and I want every inch of this building searched. Bring in cadaver dogs" Hank tells the forensics tech, who nods and walks away.

"Sarg, Lexie's got to still be alive, right? There's no way the offender left here with a dead body. That makes no sense" Sam says. Jay walks into the room, over to the group and says, "Hey, I just heard from patrol, they found a blue van parked a mile from here"

"Tell me they didn't move" Hank says.

"No, they're waiting for us"

"Sam's right. Lexie left here alive. That's how we're gonna find her"

🌙🌙🌙

Sam, Hank, Jay, Adam, Antonio and Kim slowly walk through the field where the blue van is still running with their guns raised and Hank shouts, "Chicago PD, step away from the van" And as they open all the doors to the van, they find it empty with the music playing loud and blood splatter on the floor, "Alright, turn it off, roll the crime lab"

"5021 squad, roll the crime lab to our location" Kim says over the radio. The team gathers around Hank who picked up Lexie's necklace from the floor of the van and says, "This is Lexie's"

"How do you know?" Jay asks.

"Cause I gave it to her. St. Francis"

"Patron saint of gratitude"

"Yeah, a couple years ago, Lexie was helping me make a bust. Some punk came up on me with a glock. Lexie screamed 'gun', saved my life" Hank says, and everyone looks at each other, "Alright, we know this guy, he left here on foot cause no cab is gonna play around here. So what's the nearest L station?"

"Orange line, 18th street stop. It's, like, a couple of blocks away. Nearest bus is a lot farther" Sam says.

"Alright, so loop in mass transit. Let's look at every piece of CTA security footage within a five mile radius"

🌙🌙🌙

Kim and Kevin walk onto the bullpen and walk over to Hank's office and says, "Sarg" then turns to Jay who is at the printer and hands her the picture and Kim shows it to the team, walking over to the board to tape it up, "This is Steven Sawyer's DMV. He's the guy from the L station who used the ventra card. Same height, weight, build. We did a photo array with Keith Stinson. He ID'd him as the creepy guy from the club. That's our guy, Sarg"

"Okay, we got eyes on him?" Hank asks.

"Not yet. I put in a covert call to his workplace. They said he's out of the office all day, and I called his cell provider, they said they're gonna have his phone up within the hour for an emergency ping" Jay says.

"What do we know about him?"

"A divorced commercial realtor with a nice crib in Glenview, no sheet" Kevin states.

"He moved to Pittsburgh about three years ago, right when the killings stopped" Kim says.

"Let me guess, he moved back" Adam says.

"About three months ago"

"Hit his house, Sarg" Kevin says.

"No, not until we figure out where he's hiding Lexie. He gets spooked, he might kill her" Hank says.

"We got a BOLO lodged for his Mercedes with a directive to contact Intelligence immediately on sight, no police station" Antonio says.

"Guys, we got a hit" Brayden says, with his phone to his ear, "Downtown on Erie, somewhere near the river"

"Alright, Burgess, Atwater, you sit on his house. We'll hit the address" Hank says.

🌙🌙🌙

"This guy is in there sipping wine. You gotta be kidding me" Adam says, as he and Voight look through the rear view mirrors of the SUV, watching Steven Sawyer, "I say we make him choke on it, boss. I know you don't want to spook him or anything, but maybe we just go in there and give him a talking to and get this thing done right now"

"No, we stay patient, put the tracker on the car, and follow him to Lexie" Hank says, then gets on his walkie, "Sam, do your thing"

Brayden hands Sam the tracker and she hops out of the car, when a delivery truck pulls in front of the building.

"Son of a bitch. We lost the eye" Adam says.

Sam walks across the street to go put the tracker on Sawyer's car when Adam says, "Sammy, get out of there right now" right as she was about to put it on.

Sam then continues to walk up the street passing Steven Sawyer who says, "Excuse me, miss?"

"Yeah?" Sam says, turning around.

"Do you live around here?"

"No, I'm just meeting some friends for dinner"

"Ah. I'm a little turned around. Do you know the best way to get on the Eisenhower?"

"On ramp is at the end of this street"

"Thanks"

"Sure" Sam says, before turning around to walk inside a building. Sawyer turns around after staring at Sam for a second and heads to his car.

"Alright, listen up. Tracker is a no go" Hank says, over the walkie, "We're gonna follow him old school with the long eye, but we run parallel. I don't want to heat him up"

Sam then runs out of the building to the car and when she gets in she asks, "You think he made me?"

"One way to find out" Brayden says, pulling out of the parking space, then gets on his walkie, "I got Sam. We'll hold the tail and stay parallel on the west"

🌙🌙🌙

"We got eyes on Sawyer. He just pulled up" Sam says into her walkie, as they park at a warehouse, "He's getting out of his car. Nobody drive by. He's walking into a five story building. Address is 4511 Elston"

"Copy. everybody stand fast. Wait for my order" Hank says over his walkie then gets on his radio, "5021 squad, I need you to run an address for ownership. 4511 Elston avenue"

"5021, we show it being owned by Luna shipping. There's no active licenses, and the buildings been up for sale for a year"

"Copy" Hank says, then gets on his walkie, "Brayden, what's your exact position?"

"In the lot, southeast, at his four o'clock. Opposite side of you" Brayden answers.

"I'm sending Adam your way" Hank says, as the two get out of the car, "I need you to get inside the building unnoticed, try to get eyes on Lexie"

"Copy that, Sarg" Brayden says, as he and Sam get of the car.

"Hold on. Stand down. Homicide's on scene" Hank says, then runs over to the homicide detectives, "Donahue, what the hell are you doing here?"

"Following orders. Just came from the station"

"What's the play, boss?" Adam asks.

"We're burned. Let's take him" Hank says, then turns to Donahue before walking away, "You stay on the perimeter. I need this son of a bitch alive"

"Alright, you got it"

Hank walks inside the building, and sees Sawyer looking out the window, the points his gun at him and says, "Do not move. It's over. Get your hands up"

"Hey. Okay, easy" Steven Sawyer says, raising his hands.

"Where's Lexie?"

"Who's Lexie?"

"On your knees now!"

"If you shoot me, you'll never find her"

"Get on your knees!" Hank says, then Sawyer takes off running, then he gets on his walkie, "He's heading south. Do not..." Then gunshots were heard and Sawyer falls to the ground, "No"

"Police" Donahue says. Hank kneels down next to Sawyer and says, "Where's Lexie? Where is she? Where's Lexie?!" but it was too late, Sawyer died.

~~~

"Patrol and K9 already swept the whole place. There's no sign of her. I called Sawyer's office. They manage the building. He was actually working here legit" Jay explains to Voight as Donahue walks by.

"Hey. Hey. I told you to hold the perimeter" Hank says.

"We all knew he was inside" Donahue says.

"But I said stand down"

"He went for a gun"

"I told you do not shoot!"

"And you don't tell me when to shoot"

Jay and Sam back Hank up away from Donahue and Jay says, "Sarg, come on. We still got options. Nobody's giving up"

"You're damn right we're not" Hank exclaims.

The rest of the team walks over to them and Adam says, "Boss, I tried to go through Sawyer's phone, but it's locked. We found a nine in his front right pocket. Now it's the same caliber of the gun used to kill the power company man"

"He had these maintenance keys on him" Kevin says, holding up a pair of keys. And after a moment of silence, Hank says, "Wait, Sawyer abandoned his van. That means he probably used his own car to move Lexie. Have the techs run the GPS on his vehicle, find out where it's been. I want everyone on the street standing by! Let's move"

🌙🌙🌙

After finding Lexie, dead, Sam stands next to Hank against the SUV and says, "We did everything we could"

"I'll call her mother in Ohio. Let's reach out to all the other girls' families. Least we can do is give them some closure"

"Of course" Sam says, as Hank stares at Donahue, "None of this is on you, Hank"

"Yeah, you're right" Hank says, walking towards Donahue, with Sam right behind him, "Hey, what the hell were you doing at that warehouse?"

"Hey, easy, Hank. We caught chatter on the radio when the offenders car was found" Donahue says.

"So you come in hot? Blow our one chance to find Lexie alive?"

"Slow down, Voight. We're working off orders from the superintendent"

"To shoot?"

"The offender went for a gun"

"His gun was in his pocket!"

"He made an assertive move"

"We lost an hour trying to find this place!"

"Hey, listen, he went for his gun, alright. I'm done apologizing to you. You understand me?"

Hank then punches Donahue, who falls to the ground and Voight punches him again. Jay and Sam try and hold him back as Jay says, "No, Sarg, No! No!"

"Tell your friend Kelton. I'm coming for him next!" Hank tells Donahue.

🌙🌙🌙

Back on the unit, as everyone does paperwork, Sam looks around at everyone then looks at her husband who nods.

Sam smiles and gets up from her desk and says, "Everyone. Can I have your attention please"

As the team looks at the brunette, she walks over to Jay, who puts an arm around her and says, "We have some exciting news. There's gonna be a new addition to the family soon"

As everyone figures out what she said, Hailey stands up from her seat and says, "You're pregnant?" which earns a nod from Sam, "Oh, my god. Congraulations" then Hailey goes over to hug the couple.

"Thanks Hals"

As everyone gives the couple hugs and says congrats. Adam is the last to hug Sam and says, "I'm so happy for you, Sammy"

"Thanks Adam" Sam says, then looks over her shoulder to see Brayden walk to the locker room.

While everyone finally smiles after a long case and talks with Jay, Sam goes to follow her partner into the locker room and says, "Hey"

Brayden opens his locker and says, "Hey"

Sam leans against the surrounding lockers and says, "You okay?"

"Yeah, totally"

"Bray.."

Brayden closes his locker and says, "Look, I know when I told you I liked you, it wasn't fair. You have a family, you're married. I guess, I kinda felt vulnerable. You're my partner and I want you to be happy. And I'm just lucky enough to have you in my life that way"

Sam smiles and says, "Thanks Bray. Seriously. That means a lot" then goes in for a hug.

"Congratulations by the way"

Around the corner listening to the whole conversation was Jay. Anger boiling in his veins. And so many questions running through his head.

a/n;

Well, Jay finally finds out that Brayden told Sam he liked her. But not the way he wanted to find out. 🤭
Sam and Jay told the team she's pregnant, who are all obviously happy for them! 🥳
Counting down the chapters till the end of the book; 6 left!
Who else is excited and nervous at the same time, besides me? 🙋🏼‍♀️