⋆° დ ༄ UNTIL THERE WAS TROUBLE
chapter sixteen. profiles.
crossover special.

Sam is in the locker room at the district sitting on the bench and scrolling through pictures on her phone of her, Justin and Wyatt.

"Sam, you in here?" A voice calls out. Sam clears her throat, and puts her phone away and says, "Yeah"

"You okay?"

The detective looked up at her friend and says, "Yeah, I'm good, Adam. Thanks"

"Okay. The watch party is about to start"

"Oh, right. Trudy is getting interviewed on tv." Sam says, slowly getting up from the wooden bench.

"The watch party is about to start!" Kim yells from the bullpen, "Adam, Sam come on!"

"And that's our que" Adam says, as the two walk out to the bullpen to see Antonio and his daughter, "Hey, Eva. What's up, kid?"

"My fathers a fascist" Eva says. Adam and Sam look at each other and the officer says, "okay, I don't know what to do with that" then they head over to Hailey and Jays desks, when Kim throws a container of cheesy puffs at him.

Sam pulls out Haileys desk chair and sits down next to Brayden, taking a Twizzler from Kim, then looks at her husband who mouths, "you okay?" which she replies with a head nod.

"Everybody be quiet. Platts on TV" Kevin says, turning the volume up.

"Bettys sitting down to discuss the new friendly face of the Chicago PD with Sergeant Platt" the woman says.

"New friendly face?" Adam asks, due to Trudys face looking anything other than friendly.

As the interview goes on Jay jokes, "She couldn't possible hate this any more" making the team chuckle.

"Oh, this is like Christmas" Kim smiles.

Then there's a rapid beeping coming from the studio where Platt was. Brayden looks around at the team and says, "What was that?"

Then in seconds an explosion takes place, making the whole team gasp with fear and the tv camera cuts out.

~~~

"Alright, we got the initial report from Bomb and Arson. It was a single device" Brayden says, as he, Kevin and Hank walk to the bullpen, where Sam and Hailey are standing by the whiteboard and Jay and Adam are at their desks, "Cardboard box in Sheri's office. IED, nails, glass. We're lucky that no one was standing closer, Sarg"

Antonio walks onto the unit and says, "Sheri was pronounced at Med. She, uh...her injuries were too substantial. Two others are in critical condition, but they're both suspected to pull through. There was a dozen more victims, but as of right now it looks like Sheri and Betty are our only fatalities"

"That bomb was planted in Sheri's office. She had to be the next target." Atwater says.

"She was getting threats, too" Adam says, looking up from his computer, "we recovered four emails all sent from an anonymous email account. Bounced around about a half dozen IP's. They're all death threats. 'Burn, bitch, burn. Your days are numbered', 'you will burn', that sort of thing"

"Alright, so what do we know about Sheri?" Voight asks.

"She's 26 years old, northwestern grad, started working for the station as an intern. She'd been on the air for two months. Single, well liked. Al's with the family" Jay says.

"Trying to track the package" Hailey says, taking a couple pictures and taping them on the board, "cameras on the entrance of the building only captured a man from behind. It's not much, but given that and what Sheri gave us. Sam and I pulled these POD photos. Could be the same guy, if he ditches the jacket and the hat"

"This guy exits the newsroom at 8:42 a.m. Half hour later a POD picks him up across the street. It's eight minutes after the bombing, and he's still there. Like he stayed" Sam adds.

"He matches Sheri's description" Dawson says.

"Yeah, but it's not enough for visual recognition"

"Okay, let's release it to the media. It's a person of interest. Set up a tip line"

"Are we sure that's the plan?" Jay questions, "we got two pictures of a guy in the vicinity. That's it. That could go wrong a thousand ways if the public has it"

"I still have Sheri's blood on me. If you're asking me, it's worth the risk. Someone's gonna know who this guy is"

After moments of silence, Hank says, "Alright, get on the packs with news affairs. Have them release it"

"We got something" Burgess says, walking onto the unit, with a file in hand, "I interviewed the guard who was working the front desk at the newsroom. He says everyone has to sign in to get inside. He only remembers one delivery from this morning, and he was on the phone when the guy came in. But he swears he was white and he had a beard."

"This guy stopped by security before he delivered the bomb?" Adam asks.

"This guy" Kim says, handing the folder to Voight, "signed his name in the in-out book. Eric Mitchell, he's a journalist at a local entertainment magazine. 35, white, beard"

"Bring him in" Voight says, as Sam goes to grab her coat, "Not you Sam. You can't go into the field until the doctor clears you"

Sam sighs and sits at her desk, as she watches her team leave the unit.

~~~

Brayden sits on the edge of his partners desk who is completely glued to her computer and says, "You good?"

"Yeah" Sam answers, not looking up from her computer.

Kim hangs up her desk phone and says, "Okay, bomb and Arson confirmed the bomb was wired to the mailbox door" then she sits on the edge of Adam's desk.

"It's possible someone saw the bomb being planted. Area central and patrol are canvassing the neighborhood. We're running PODs again, surveillance, but so far we got nothing" Hailey says.

"We know Eric Mitchell's not our bomber being we just watched him get blown up" Adam says.

"What the hell are we looking at? This son of a bitch led us there. He signed in using the name of his next target so we'd follow" Jay says.

"That's right. This is not an isolated incident" Voight says, leaving his office, "Okay? This could be the start of a bombing campaign. This guys got an agenda. Alright, what do we know about Eric Mitchell?"

"Well, he worked in media for 15 years. Journalist at an entertainment magazine." Al states.

"There's no evidence of death threats against him, but that doesn't mean that it didn't happen over the phone or face to face. Bomb and Arson and Homicide are digging up more as we speak" Kevin says, as Trudy walks onto the bullpen.

The team looks at the sergeant who says, "Seriously, if one more person asks me if I'm okay, they are not gonna be okay. I just want to help"

"And we'll take it" Hank says.

"Bomb and arson's got an update" Al says, hanging up the phone and grabbing his jacket.

"I'll come with" Antonio says, also grabbing his coat.

"Me too" Sam says, standing up.

"Sam.." Voight says.

"Hank, come on"

"We got her" Dawson says, and Voight nods his head.

Sam walks past Trudy and says, "Glad you're okay, Sarg" before following after Dawson and Olinsky.

🌙🌙🌙

Sam, Al and Antonio get to firehouse 51, where they are met with Kelly Severide and Sergeant Ray Dwyer.

"Hey pretty girl" Kelly smiles, as his best friend walks over to him and lays her head on his chest as he wraps his arms around her. Sam sighs and says, "Hi"

Then they follow Sergeant Dwyer into the firehouse who says, "I'm talking clean. This isn't some teenage wank screwing around with his dad's Home Depot account. The wires, the initiators, the circuit board, the soldering alone on these things. It's by someone who knew what they were doing. Took their time to do it"

The group walks into a room where pieces of the bomb is scattered on three different tables. Al, Sam and Antonio go over to look at it as Severide says, "devices were personalized based on the location he was hitting. The first device was an IED relying on a time switch. It was created to invoke as much damage as possible within an enclosed space. The ball bearings, the nails, the bolts. Plus enough gasoline to spread hefty fire."

"Alright, so that's different from our second?" Sam asks.

"The second is a victim activated IED. It was triggered when Mitchell opened up his mailbox." Dwyer says.

"So two different models, but you're saying this is one guy?" Al asks.

"Yeah, it's the exact same materials, same signature. It's like handwriting. The same brain built both of these things"

"Okay, so these bolts, the nails, the wires, the gasoline even, I can purchase that stuff at a hardware store, right?" Dawson asks.

"You could, but you couldn't buy the C-4" Kelly says, and the detectives look over at him in surprise, "both bombs used military grade C-4"

🌙🌙🌙

"Alright, you can't buy that kind of C-4 over the counter, and the military keeps strict records of theft and storage" Al states, as he, Antonio, Sam and Jay sit and stand around Voights office who is sitting at his desk.

"Yeah, it had to be either stolen or bought on the black market" Jay says.

"I'm digging into that angle with ATF."

"Yeah, rest of the bomb components are gonna be hard to track. They're generic. Sold in hundreds of stores" Sam says.

"Alright, where we at with the connection?" Voight asks.

"Nowhere. Eric and Sheri never worked together. They never reported on the same story. There's no evidence they really even knew each other." Jay says.

Kevin walks into the office and says, "Antonio, your tip line sparked something but we got to move fast." Then he hands Hank a picture, "somebody called in, identified the POD photos. Mark Trenton. Height, weight. Match everything the tech lab already told us about. He worked security at the news station for two years, and he went to Illinois state the same time Eric Mitchell did. That's the nexus between our victims, but that's not even the crazy part. He's army, Sarg. Did a tour in Iraq. EOD."

"Explosive Ordinance Disposal" Jay says.

"Huh. Alright, did you do a round robin?" Hank asks.

"Burgess and Ruzek are already headed to his house, but we need to move because the internet is blowing him up. They already ID'd the photos. He's gonna see us coming." Kevin says.

"I'll meet them there" Antonio says.

~~~

"Alright, tell me we got something cause Mark ain't talking and we don't have enough to charge" Voight says, as he and Antonio walk back to the bullpen from interviewing Mark Trenton.

"Well, the nexus between Mark and the victims is real, but it's just not tight enough to connect him to Eric. Outside of ISU, there's no real link." Atwater states.

"Alright, what about the C-4?"

"ATF's report says this particular batch of C-4 was made six years ago. Multiple blocks were reported stolen from the manufacturer in 2012" Al says.

"Oh, 2012? So we're six years behind the lead"

"No, I got a guy at ATF. I'll catch us up"

"Do we have anything I can use as leverage on this guy?"

"Marks got a DUI from last year. He chewed out the arresting officer. He's an angry guy" Adam says.

"But a lot of people are angry, especially after a few beers. Doesn't mean they built bombs" Jay says and Adam rolls his eyes, "look, we're not finding anything, then maybe we're looking in the wrong place. This guys house was cleared of any bomb making materials. And the security guard at the news station said he couldn't pick him out of a line up"

"Uh, to be fair, the guard at the station doubted he could ID the guy at all. He said he didn't get a good look" Kim says.

"And Mark has no explanation why he stood outside the bombing for eight minutes" Antonio says.

"Marks got a distinguished service cross." Jay says.

"You know that doesn't mean anything"

"It means he fought for this country, and it means I give him the benefit of the doubt, alright? Maybe we're looking in the wrong place. I think these connections seem pretty strained."

"Jay, look.." before Dawson could finish, Voight says. "Alright. Then cement or clear them. But do a psychological autopsy on Mark. Anyone he's talked to in the last week. Anyone who can speak to his behavior."

"Copy that" Adam says.

"If Mark is our man, someone's gonna know it"

Sam looks over at her husband who sighs and sits down at his desk, so she gets up and sits on the edge of his desk and says, "You okay?"

Jay looks up at the brown eyes he's missed so much and says, "Yeah. Thanks"

~~~

After the building was cleared from the bomb unit, after the district was sent a bomb from the bomber, Hank walks onto the unit followed by Adam, Sam, Jay, Brayden and Hailey and says, "he gave us a lead. Let's not waste it. That device came from somewhere"

"Just give me a second. Alright, we're at a zero with the delivery. The device was delivered and mailed from a UPS store. By a private shipper" Adam says to Voight, with his cell still to his ear, "the order for pickup was made online with a prepaid money card. Yeah I'm back" Adam says, walking towards the locker room.

"Customer requested a box be picked up at a residential address on Sheridan. House is vacant." Hailey says, walking to her desk.

"Check the deeds. Run every single property owner in the past two decades." Hank says.

"Box and device are being rushed through for DNA, but it was wiped with bleach" Al says.

"Bomb squad said same materials as our other two devices. It's generic, store bought. We're gonna be running down dead ends." Dawson says, walking over to his desk and taking his coat off.

"Well, run them anyway. We don't assume anything is dead until we pronounce it." Hank says. Burgess walks onto the unit with an evidence bag and copies in her hand and says, "Hey. I got, um, copies of the note that was on the packing slip" then she passes out copies to the team, "'once again an innocent man blown up by the engine of fake news. The CPD, further perpetrators of the fake news engine, will burn'"

"He's talking about Mark. The security guard?" Jay says.

"Marks got to be the innocent man" Brayden says.

"'Once again', 'once again', I mean...he's referring to fake news as if it's blown up someone close to him before. It's personal" Dawson says.

"Found it" Trudy says, walking onto the unit with a file in hand, "the gossip blog Mark's friend mentioned. Sheri never officially worked for one. But there was a blog. The Chicago scoop. It was active Sheri's last two years at northwestern. The site reported on gossip, scandal, anything that was pull the rug worthy. Whole thing was anonymous, but the historical data, IPs, it was Sheri. She ran it."

"If Sheri wrote a story that tore someone's life apart...and Eric reported on that same story, I mean that would fit. Alright, let's run with it." Hank says, walking to his office.

🌙🌙🌙

"So we think that Eric and Sheri were targeted for a story that they both reported on, something inflammatory" Adam says, as he, Sam and Brayden are in a conference room at the news building that Eric worked at, talking with a couple of employees, "being as Sheri wrote over 300 articles for her blog while Eric worked here at the Telegraph, so...we were hoping that one of these jump out at you as a story that Eric would have worked on, too"

"I'm sorry, most of Sheri's articles are pop culture and gossip. When Eric worked here, he was a stringer." The woman says.

"He chased crime stories?"

"Homicides. EngleWood, Garfield Park, daily blood and bullets"

"It would have to be something with enough weight to disrupt someone's life" Brayden says.

"Didn't Erin run the Larry Shepard Story?" The man asks the woman, who nods her head.

"What story was that?" Sam asks, fixing the strap of her sling.

"Shepard. He was a reporter here, investigative journalist. Was a good guy, fired about two years ago."

"Why was he fired?" Porter asks.

The two employees sigh and look at each other and the blonde says, "Shepard had been reporting on a murder, and then rumors started circulating at other outlets that he was in some way...that he had murdered the woman. A journalist being accused of the very crime he was reporting? You can imagine"

"That got press time?" Sam asks.

"Lots of it. Look, our paper did the right thing. It was a PR nightmare. They had to fire Shepard."

Sam takes out her work phone, to look up a photo of Larry Shepard as Brayden says, "okay, so Shepard got arrested for the murder?"

"No. God, no. It was nonsense" the man says.

"So you guys blew up your reporters career based on fake news"

"Yeah, he never forgave us for that. His own paper, his own column. I saw him a couple of weeks ago on the L. Started yelling when he saw me."

"Larry Shepard. White male, 40s, beard" Sam says, showing Adam and Brayden his picture, "it matches"

🌙🌙🌙

After getting a name from a man who Al's CI's pointed at, Burgess slams his pictures onto the board and says, "George Lehr. I met this prick. He was a witness at Eric Mitchell's explosion. He offered to help us. We had him fill out a witness report on the scene, made him give a drivers license. Adam and I checked out his ID, by the way. It's legit"

"But he's our fence. Sold the C-4 Shepard's using." Al says.

"Which means they were in contact" Sam says.

"Okay, we know this how?" Hank asks. Sam hands her Sergeant a file and says, "Messages on Lehr's Facebook timeline. Five in two months, each one posted from a different dummy profile. Then, three days ago another dummy profile posted nothing but an email address. The email address has since been shut down, but I think it was Shepard."

"Alright, so you wanna take him?" Dawson asks.

"No. I mean, we finally got a lead to Shepard. I don't wanna blow it. Look, get coverts on Lehr's house. Find out everything about this guy. If these two are in contact, we got to figure out a way to get ahead of it without Lehr knowing." Hank says, then looks at the board, then at Antonio, "hey you should probably go ahead and release Mark"

🌙🌙🌙

Sam is in the kitchen, trying to make dinner, one handed when the doorbell rings. Sighing, the brunette, wiped her hands on the towel nearby and walks to the door and looks through the peephole and opens it to see her husband, who says, "hey"

"What's up?"

"Just wanted to stop by, since I was in the neighborhood"

"In the neighborhood huh?" Sam asks and Jay nods his head, "Would you like to come in? I'm making dinner"

"Uh, yeah. Sure" Jay says, walking inside the house. Gracie runs into the living room and smiles when she sees her dad and goes over to him and hugs his legs.

Jay smiles, picking up his daughter and says, "hi princess"

"Hi daddy" Gracie smiles, then leans her head on his chest, hugging him.

"I've missed you bug"

Sam smiles at the two and says, "Would you like to stay for dinner? I'm sure Gracie would love it"

"Yeah. That would be great. Thanks" Jay says.

authors note;

I really just love Sam and Kelly's friendship 💖
Also, not counting the next chapter of this cross over episode, there's gonna be 7 more chapters left already 🤭