⋆° დ ༄ UNTIL THERE WAS TROUBLE
chapter six. fallen.

"And community play is about more than just providing gyms. It's about building bridges between law enforcement and at risk kids" Alderman Price says, at a charity event, while the intelligence unit, along with other departments and districts are in their blues, listening, while Jay rests his hand on his wife's knee, making them both smile, "It's a place where kids get to know the person behind the badge. And police aren't making arrests and asking questions. Instead, they're giving their perspectives on leadership, conflict resolution, empathy, and most importantly, trust. Community Play thrives on good folks like you and when I say, 'good folks', I mean caring, compassionate people who are also willing to open those wallets" making people laugh, "You know, earlier tonight, I was taking a little walk on the beautiful streets here on the north side. This is the Chicago we all want. Family friendly. A safe haven from gun violence and with your help we've made this little organization a safe haven as well. So, thank you for coming tonight, and god bless"

~~~

Jay and Sam are at the bar, having a drink when Hailey walks over to them and says, "Hey. You guys wanna roll?"

"We're off in like 10 minutes" Sam says, taking a sip of champagne. Hailey sighs and says, "I guess you're right" then she turns her head to see Voight talking with someone.

"You know him?" Jay asks.

"Yeah. Sean McGrady. Sergeant out of Narcotics. Couple years back, I was assigned to his joint investigation. Good police"

"She says with hesitation" Sam says.

"No, he is. He's just, uh, competitive. Always looks for an angle. Drove me nuts"

~~~

Sam walks out of the bathroom to see Brayden on the phone, which looks like a heated conversation and she walks over to him right when he hangs up and asks, "Hey, you okay?"

"Uh, yeah. It was just my brother" Brayden sighs, "He always likes to pick a fight"

Then Jay runs around the corner with his and Sam's coat in hand and says, "Guys, we gotta go. Active shooter"

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The intelligence team rounds the corner with their guns drawn and slowly make their way towards the front of the house. Adam and Sam walk up the front steps to see the front door ajar and the officer slowly opens it and the team walks in to clear the house, when Hank and Sam walk into the living room to see two bodies.

"I got two bodies!" Hank shouts, kneeling down to feel a pulse, on the male, while Sam does the same to the female, but no luck.

"Anything?" Porter asks. Hank shakes his head and says, "They're both gone"

"5021 Charlie. Roll an Ambo to our location. Three GSW's, one still breathing" Hailey says, over her radio.

~~~

"Nine mil casings. Male takes one to the back of the head. Female takes two to the chest" Sam explains to Voight, after the crime scene techs arrive and start going over the house.

"Dad gets beat, then popped. Wife walks in. Goodbye witness." Hank says.

"Son Ryan, he's hiding out in the bathroom. Killer finds him. He takes two to the chest" Jay says, as Upton walks over to them.

"Anything on the victims yet?" Hank asks, Hailey.

"Yeah. Grant Hammond, wife Margaret, son Ryan. Grant was a corporate attorney. Looks like he spent a lot of time at his church" Hailey says.

"Hey. I think we found what the killers were looking for upstairs" Adam says, rounding the corner, then everyone follows him upstairs to the master closet where they found loads amount of cocaine, scales, etc, "Praise the Lord"

"Two keys. That's about 200 grand street value" Jay states.

"I've seen guys kill over a lot less" Voight says.

"So much for the safe haven of the north side" Hailey says.

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"Guys, we think we have a lead on the supplier" Hailey says, as she and Sam walk onto the unit, and hands the file to Dawson, who looks it over with Kim.

"That's a good start" Hank says.

"Techs ran GPS on Hammond's car. He'd been making multiple trips to Englewood"

"Got an address?"

"6241 South Racine. Stash house is linked to a Quinton Kane. apparently he's a pretty serious player. Moves a lot of product through the gold coast." Sam says.

"Alright. Get the details on Kane, then get some eyes on him" Hank says, walking to his office then turns around and says to Hailey, "Oh, you should probably contact McGrady in Narcotics. His team covers that area"

"I got you, if it gets awkward" Sam says, putting her hand in the blondes shoulder.

"Thanks" Hailey says.

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"So what do we know about Quinton Kane?" Sam asks as she stops in her tracks following after Hailey and McGrady in the police lot.

"Uh, well, he's a main suspect in three homicides that I've been chasing. We get close, but you know, no indictment thanks to the brave ASAs" McGrady says.

"You know what flag he flies?"

"Yeah. It's the 100 Syndicate. He has a couple of legit businesses, too"

"Any priors?" Upton asks.

"Mm. Two. Five years ago, agg battery and then three months ago, DUI. Case still pending. Listen this is how I want to run it, alright? I'm gonna take the main eye. Hailey, you handle the log. Sam, I want you to do stills and video, cause we want to prove that it's an open air market that Kane's working, alright? Let's go!" McGrady says, walking away.

Sam raises an eyebrow at Hailey who sighs.

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"There he is" Sam says, looking through the camera then takes a picture, passing it to Hailey, but before she can get it, McGrady takes it and says. "Let me see. Oh, hell yeah. The guy on the left, that's Quinten Kane. He's a stone cold killer. The guy with him is Bernard Ward, aka 'Bay Bay'" then he snaps a picture, and hands the camera to Upton.

"It's a black SUV. Just like the neighbor said" Hailey says.

"Great. Well. I think it's time that we should have a little chat with Citizen Kane" Sam says, as her phone vibrates in her pocket and goes to answer it and says, "Halstead.....got it, thanks" then hangs up and puts it back in her pocket, "The son Ryan Hammond, he just ID'd the shooter as a tall black man with some sort of a dog tattoo on his right forearm"

"Check the file" Hailey says. McGrady grabs the file and opens it up and says, "That's Kane. Dog claw" pointing to the picture, "It's the 100 Syndicate initiation tattoo"

"Well, that's good enough for me. Let's grab him up" Sam says, before they exit the minivan and take out their guns, holding it behind their backs and walking towards Kane.

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"Thanks for coming in Quinton" Sam says, sitting across from the man in interrogation, while Hank leans against the light blue, cement wall looking at a file, "So how well do you know Grant Hammond?"

"Grant who?" Kane asks.

"Don't disrespect me like that, Quinton. He had you on speed dial. He was your gold coast connect, and we got a lot of people whispering in our ears saying he's running dope for you"

"Oh, that Grant Hammond." Kane says, shaking his head, "No. He just gives me legal advice. See, I'm incorporated now"

"Well good for you. So where were you last night?"

"You gonna tell me what this is about? I got places to be"

"Well, not anymore" Hank says, placing the file in front of the drug dealer with Ryan's picture attached to it, "What? You don't recognize him? Ryan Hammond? 19? Come on. You shot him in the chest last night. Right there" then he pokes Kane in the chest, twice, "Guess what? It turns out that this kid is a fighter. He survived and he just ID'd you as the shooter"

"I didn't shoot no one"

"Quinton. Come on. I'm throwing you a lifeline here. I'm giving you a chance to tell your side of the story. Come on" Hank says, but still Kane says nothing, "Alright, I'll help you out. He owed you money. No, I got it. Right. He shot at you and you were just defending yourself."

"That's a really good one" Sam says.

"Mmm" Hank hums.

"Am I under arrest?" Kane asks. Hank leans on the metal table and says, "You're free to go"

~~~

Sam leaves interrogation, putting her gun back in her holster and says, "Two dead bodies, a dying college kid, and we got to kick Kane free because Ryan Hammond's ID is to vague"

"Yeah, well we're lucky we got what we got when we got it" Kim says, closing the drawer of the filing cabinet.

"What do you mean?"

"I just talked to med. Ryan Hammond died 10 minutes ago"

Sam sighs and says, "He's 19 years old. He just got back home from college."

"Without Ryan's testimony, we don't have a case against Kane. So that son of a bitch might actually get away with it"

"We just gotta get back out there, find new evidence" Sam says, walking to her desk, when she passes Hailey who walks onto the unit, "Hey, you talk with McGrady?"

"Yeah. He said he wants to meet up and go over the case tonight" Hailey states.

"Meet up and go over the case? Did he bring up new leads, new evidence?"

"No. He didn't mention anything"

"Is it about the case?"

"See you tomorrow" Hailey says, grabbing her coat. Sam sits down at her desk, when Jay leaves the break room and kisses Sam on top of her head and goes to sit at his desk.

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After getting the call from Hailey, about McGrady getting shot and killed, the team heads over to the crime scene where the crime scene techs are going over it.

"Talk to me" Hank says, approaching Brayden and Sam, after talking with Price and Woods.

"Yeah, so apparently what happened, Sarg, is that McGrady got jumped in the front seat of the vehicle, and then from there, it was just a fight for his weapon" Brayden says, as they duck underneath the crime scene tape.

"Offender shot him twice. One in the vest point blank, one in the neck, through and through. That's what shattered the glass" Sam says, as they walk towards the car, "The only prints we could find on the gun were McGrady's own"

"There was blood on the grip of the gun. We sent the gun to the crime lab already"

"This might have just been a random robbery"

"Or maybe he got into it with a CI?"

"Alright, so dump McGrady's phone right away. Identify everyone he was in contact with the last 24 hours" Hank tells Brayden.

"Copy that" Porter says, before walking away.

"Witnesses?"

"I talked to one witness. Saw a black SUV around the building about 20 minutes before McGrady was shot. Black male behind the wheel. Thinking it's Kane" Sam says.

"Alright. So start digging. Find out where he was when this whole thing went down"

"Got it"

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"Sarg, you're gonna wanna hear this" Porter says, as him, Sam, Kevin, Adam and Hailey are standing next to the whiteboard, holding a picture in his hand, "We dumped McGrady's phone" then tapes in onto the board, "And this is the only guy that popped up. An informant named Damon Briggs that wasn't on the books yet"

"I spoke to McGrady's partner. Briggs is a catch and release on a gun charge. Slinging a lot of attitude. McGrady was about to toss him back into prison" Sam says.

"This man called McGrady's phone three times over the last week, and was on the phone with him two hours before he got popped"

"Alright" Hank says, turning to Hailey, "You and Sam, find this Briggs, bring him in. Let's not back off Kane though. Do some digging. Check his alibi"

~~~

"You're a hard man to find, Damon" Sam says, as she and Hailey are now in interrogation with Briggs, "Why are you hiding?"

"G, I'm just trying to see Sunday morning. White cop killed in my hood. I'm the brother beefin' with him. Yeah, I did the math" Briggs says.

"Where were you last night at 10 p.m.?" Upton questions.

"I drove to Wisconsin. Good for the tires. Got gas. Came right back"

"Great alibi. When was the last time you spoke with McGrady?"

"Uh, a month. Two. been a minute"

Hailey takes a piece of paper out of a file and sets it in front of Briggs and says, "What about when you called him yesterday on his undercover phone?"

"Oh, that was personal. I thought y'all were talkin' business. I lent him a grand. Hadn't paid me back yet. You know, that's why we was conflictin'. I think the dude was in with some serious people. Know what I'm sayin'?"

"Did he say why he needed the money?" Sam asks.

"He didn't have to. We spent most of our time talking Vegas odds. Far as I can tell, he wouldn't pass up a sports bet. Dude was betting on little league games"

"Stay in town, Damon. We'll be in touch" Sam says, as the two detectives get up to leave.

As they leave interrogation to get their guns out from the safe, Sam says, "You believe this guy?"

"I do" Hailey says.

"Why?"

"The money thing. Makes sense" Hailey says, as Sam takes out her gun and from the locker and puts it in her holster, "McGrady asked me to borrow a few grand last month"

"You lent it to him?"

"I didn't say I lent him money. I said he asked. He sounded like he was in a really bad place"

"How bad?"

"Well, he likes to gamble. And he loses. A lot. There's a lot of potential suspects here"

"Alright, let's follow up on Briggs' alleged trip to Wisconsin" Sam says, as they head back to the bullpen.

~~~

Hailey and Sam walk onto the unit, when Hank turns around from looking at the board and asks, "So what do we got on our snitch Briggs?"

"He was totally on a joy ride going to scenic Wisconsin" Sam says, walking to her husband's desk to kiss him on the cheek.

"Credit card receipts, gas station surveillance puts him at a Kenosha gas station at the same time McGrady was shot" Hailey says.

"Alright, so cross Briggs off the list. Where are we at with Kane?" Hank asks.

"Yo, Sarg, Kane's alibi checks out" Atwater says, as him, Porter and Ruzek walk onto the unit.

"Yeah, we got Kane on surveillance video at 10:21 entering the dive bar" Adam says.

"He owns that place. You sure that video's legit?" Hank asks.

"It looks credible. They got the 10 o'clock news on in the background. It checks out"

"Alright, we know McGrady's 911 call came in at 10:11, right? So how far is the dive bar from where McGrady got hit?"

"Sarg, we basically just drove that route. It was about 4.8 miles. We were driving fast. It took us about 27 minutes" Brayden says.

"There's no way in hell he made it in 10" Adam says.

"Alright, just talked with the techs" Antonio says, walking onto the unit, "Blood on the gun that killed McGrady is a match for Quinton Kane"

As everyone looks at each other with questioning looks, and Voight says, "Well, blood is blood. Let's arrest this prick"

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After getting a search warrant, the intelligence team heads out to Kane's apartment, vested up, with their guns drawn. Antonio slams his fist on the door and shouts, "Quinton Kane! Chicago PD! Open up!"

A woman opens the door and says, "Quintin ain't here" as Hailey pushes her way through.

"We'll see about that. Wait here" Hank says, giving the woman the warrant, as everyone follows him into the apartment.

"I got two kids. Hold up. Y'all can't just come up in here like this"

After clearing the house, Sam leaves the bedroom with a baggie of cocaine in her hand and says, "No sign of Kane but I found something"

"Oh. That's a parole violation. Straight to the pokey, no hearing" Hank says, holding up his cuffs.

"It ain't mine. I don't do drugs" the woman says.

"Okay, look at me. We can help you out, but we need to know where Quinton is" Sam says.

"Oh, so you want me to rat out the father of my children?"

"No, we want you to rat out the guy who just killed a police officer"

"He had kids too. Four and six. Real cute" Hank says.

"Come on" Sam says, causing the woman to roll her eyes.

"Quinton was here last night. He came to get his guns" the woman says.

"Was he with anyone?" Voight asks.

"He left with his friend Bay Bay"

"Where did they go?"

"He didn't say. But I never seen Quinton act like that before"

"Act like what?"

"Scared. He knows y'all are looking to kill him over that white cop"

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Sam walks over to Hailey who is talking with Sergeant Platt at her desk and says, "Hey, we got a lead on Kane's boy, Bay Bay. He was spotted in a stash house on South Wolcott"

"Let's go" Upton says.

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"Chicago PD!" Jay yells, kicking in the front door, then he enters, followed by the rest of the team with their guns drawn, "Don't move! Get your hands up!"

"Put your hands up now!" Sam shouts, as Adam and Kevin go after Bay Bay who is trying to escape through the bathroom.

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After capturing Kane, the intelligence unit is at the press conference that Lieutenant Woods is holding on behalf of McGrady.

"Tonight, Chicago sleeps safer. Quinton Kane is in custody for the murder of a Chicago Police officer. I was very close with Sergeant Sean McGrady. He was everything that we as police strive to be. He was honest. He was dedicated. He was courageous. We must never forget Sergeant McGrady's sacrifice. Thank you" Woods says.

Jay takes ahold of his wife's hand, and smiles down at her, who is rubbing their daughter's back, who falls asleep and says, "Ready to go?"

"Yeah"

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When Sam and Jay walk towards the front door of their house they see a package on the front step with Sam's name and address on it but no return address.

"What's that?" Jay asks, carrying a sleeping Gracie in his arms. Sam bends down to pick it up and says, "I don't know"

~~~

Jay walks down the stairs from putting their daughter to bed and sees his wife sitting on the couch reading a letter with tears in her eyes and asks, "Sam? What is it?"

Sam looks at her husband and says, "It's from Erin" then gives him the letter, as she still holds a necklace in her hand.

"'Sammy. I'm sorry I left without saying goodbye. I know I shouldn't have, but it would've been too hard. I love you so much and I hope you had an amazing birthday. And you're wondering why I didn't put a return address, it's because I work undercover a lot. I hope Jay and the kids are doing good too along with everyone at Intelligence. Right now you're holding a necklace which is shaped like a heart and broke in half. Yours reads 'sisters' and mine says 'forever'. Because that's what we are. Sister's forever, no matter how far apart we are. I love you, Sammy. Xxx Erin'" Jay reads, out loud, then sits next to Sam and pulls her into a hug.

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The next day, the intelligence team, along with McGrady's narcotics unit and other cops, are in their blues, after the funeral, having a few drinks and what not.

"So, how's Upton dealing with all this?" Dawson asks.

"I'm not sure. She keeps a lot in" Sam says.

"We all do, right? It's part of the job"

Sam sighs and says, "You're right"

Jay walks over to them and wraps his arm around Sam's neck and kisses her temple.

a/n:

I miss Erin 😭💔
I hope everyone liked this chapter, because I actually liked writing it and hoping Sam and Hailey become good friends 🤞🏼