Chapter 3 - Fear
Fear was a rare emotion for Officer Kim Burgess. In her line of work, if you walked around afraid, you wouldn't last ten minutes. But as she stood staring at a dark, dead-end alley, Kim felt the unfamiliar feeling of fear. The hair on her arms was standing up straight and her brain kept screaming 'no!' Kim tried to shake the feeling. She had been in creepier places, she reminded herself, and she was going to be just fine. As Roman walked up beside her, she looked over at him.
"You sure this is the place?" She asked, her hand already on the butt of her gun at her hip.
"This is where the call came in from," he answered.
"Think we should call for backup?"
"What for? I'm sure it's nothing."
Kim shrugged, not wanting to admit that the place gave her the creeps. They were several streets off a main road in Chicago. It was a part of the city where the windows were boarded up and nobody came out after the streetlights came on. The area was known for drug and gang activity. Kim and Roman had gotten the assignment to check out possible gun shots coming from what was supposedly an abandoned building. Staring at the building at the end of the dead end, where the gunshots were reported, Kim took a deep breath. She had a job to do and she was going to do it well even if she was afraid.
"Ready?" Kim asked, sliding her gun from its holster.
"Ready."
Roman took out a flashlight. It was near midnight and the streets were pitch dark. They walked together slowly down the alley. Kim nearly jumped out of her skin when something darted out to their left. They both swung their weapons in that direction, but saw it was just a cat racing by. Kim tried to slow down her breathing. She was really wishing they had called for backup. At least with more officers, they'd have all angles covered.
They continued their approach quickly. Roman made it to the door first. He looked up at Kim without making a sound. As they often did, they were communicating silently. Kim knew exactly what he wanted. She positioned herself at the door while Roman got ready to open it. He counted to three on his fingers and swung the door open. Kim jumped inside, her gun in front of her. She took only two steps before she heard gun shots. Then everything went black.
Adam was walking up the stairs towards the Intelligence office when he heard Kim's name. He turned and saw that Platt was standing behind her desk, on the phone. She said the name 'Burgess' again and it sounded desperate. Adam stopped dead in his tracks. Whatever was going on and whoever Platt was talking to, it didn't sound good. Adam ran back over to the desk.
"What's going on, Sarg?" He asked.
Still on the phone, Platt ignored him.
"Yes," Platt said into the phone. "We've got it covered. We'll have a team there in three minutes."
"Is Kim alright?" Adam questioned urgently.
"Thank you," Platt said, finally hanging up the phone. She stared at Adam with daggers.
"I don't like to be interrupted," she reminded him sternly.
"Did something happen to Kim?" He demanded to know, ignoring her reprimand.
He didn't care that she didn't like to be interrupted. He had to know what happened. Platt picked up the phone again. Tired of being annoyed, Adam decided to try being loud. "Sarg!"
"Burgess and Roman were involved in an altercation," Platt finally said.
"What kind of altercation?"
"That's all I know."
"Sarg…"
Someone obviously answered the phone because Platt began ignoring Adam again.
"Hank, it's Trudy. We got a problem."
Adam didn't bother to listen as Platt told Voight that Burgess and Roman were involved in some kind of problem. He needed more information and she didn't have it. Just as he was about to go bounding upstairs to Intelligence to convince Voight to let him go see what was going on, Voight came down the steps with Dawson, Atwater, Halstead, Olinsky, and Lindsey behind him.
"Let's go," Voight ordered.
They all made their way out of the building. Adam jumped in a car with Voight and Olinsky. Voight explained to him that all he knew was that Roman and Kim were called to an abandoned house for suspected gunshots and that one of them had called 911. Nobody knew anything other than that. Adam felt like he couldn't breathe. Just the thought that Kim could be hurt or in trouble was killing him.
Before the car even came to a complete stop outside of the abandoned alley, Adam jumped out. There was an ambulance on the street as well as several other police cars. They all had their guns drawn, pointing at the building.
"What's going on?" Adam asked.
"Hostage situation," a cop answered.
"What?"
"Some crazy guy has a cop in there."
Adam was about to race forward towards the building when Voight pulled him back.
"You're going to get yourself killed," Voight warned him.
"Kim's in there!" Adam shouted.
"If you go running in there, you might get her killed. Let's get a handle on the situation before you do something stupid."
Adam watched as Voight assessed what was going on. Roman was sitting on the bumper of the ambulance, being treated for some wounds. Adam raced over to him.
"What happened?" He asked. "Where's Kim?"
"She's in there with him," Roman answered.
"With who? What the hell happened?"
Roman shook his head. "I don't know. It all happened so fast."
"Tell me what happened!" Adam shouted.
"We were responding to a call about shots being fired. I opened the door and she went in. We did it by the book."
"I don't care about the damn book!" Adam exclaimed. "What happened?"
"As soon as the door opened, there was this loud bang like gunshots. The door frame got all busted, shrapnel flew at me. By the time I got up, he was screaming and telling me to get back and he took her."
"Is she shot? Did he shoot her?" Adam begged to know.
"I don't…I don't think so."
"What the hell does he want?"
"I don't know."
Adam wanted to strangle Roman, but refrained. He knew it would do no good. Adam spotted Voight talking to Halstead and Olinsky across the street and rushed over to them.
"What are we doing to get her out of there?" Adam asked.
"We've been unable to make contact with the man," Voight explained. "He won't negotiate with us."
"We don't even know who this guy is," Olinsky added.
"What about Kim?" Adam asked.
"We don't know about her condition yet," Voight told him.
"Mouse was able to look at the plans for the building," Halstead said, grabbing one of the long guns out of the back of his car. "I think I can get in through the back. If I can get a shot, I'll take it."
Adam nodded, feeling like he wasn't doing enough. He wanted to be the guy pulling the trigger, but he knew that Halstead was the best shot. If anyone could do it, he could.
"Dawson and Atwater are trying to get eyes on the guy," Voight said, pointing to the two surrounding buildings. Adam knew they would get to the roof of each of the buildings and see what they could see.
"What can I do?" Adam asked.
"Sit tight," Voight commanded. "We'll get her back."
"Sarg, I can…"
"You're too close to this. We both know that. See what else you can find out from Roman."
"He doesn't remember anything."
As they spoke, Adam watched Halstead make his way around the building. Adam wished he knew what was going on inside the building. It was as if everything was too silent. Even though there were cops and cars everywhere with lights flashing, the house was still too dark. There was no way of knowing if Kim was alive or even if the man was still in there. He could have fled as soon as Kim and Roman approached, leaving Kim dead. Adam tried not to think about that scenario.
Just as he was about to suggest that he try to contact the man inside, a shot rang out. Adam didn't think. He just ran towards the building. Voight shouted after him, but Adam ignored him. He burst through the front door, his gun out in front of him leading the way. He began frantically looking around. Kim was on her knees, staring at a body of a man beside her, blood oozing from a bullet wound in his head. There was another dead body across the room, but it looked like he had been dead a little longer than the man next to Kim. Her hands were tied behind her, her ankles bound, her mouth taped shut with duct tape. Adam immediately dropped to the ground in front of her. He saw a deep gash on her forehead, blood running down her face. Her bullet proof vest had been discarded. Her clothes look skewed, which scared Adam to death. He took the tape off her mouth and she breathed a deep breath. A tear fell down her cheek.
"Hey, hey, it's ok," he said, trying to soothe her. He was so relieved she was alive, he could have burst out singing. "Are you hurt?"
"I'm ok," she said, the words catching in her throat.
Adam took a pocket knife from his pocket and sliced the duct tape from her ankles. He reached behind her to get her hands when she cried out.
"You are hurt," he stated.
"My wrist."
He tenderly cut through the duct tape and cradled her left hand as he helped her stand up. She barely took a step before she began to collapse.
"I got you," he said, picking her up bridal style.
Halstead arrived from the back of the house, his gun in his hand. He looked down at the man next to Kim. It was obvious that Halstead had made the shot. There was a bullet hole right through the back of the man's head.
"She ok?" He asked.
"She will be," Adam answered. "Thanks."
Halstead nodded. Adam walked with Kim out of the house. Voight met them right outside.
"How you doing, Burgess?" He asked.
"Fine," she answered, trying to hide her tears. "I'll be fine, sir."
"Paramedics are waiting."
"What about Roman?" Kim asked. "Is he alright?"
"He's fine," Voight answered. "One of the officers already brought him to the hospital to be treated for some scrapes, but he'll be ok."
"Good," Kim whispered.
"Get yourself checked out," Voight said, turning back to the house. It was an active crime scene and they had a lot to do.
Adam nodded and brought her to the waiting ambulance. He sat her down gently on the gurney as the paramedics began looking her over. With the lights around them, Adam realized she looked worse than she had inside. The wound on her head was deep and the bone on her wrist was jutted out at a weird ankle. She had other scrapes around her face. As the paramedics did their assessment, Adam stayed right beside her.
"We're going to take you to the hospital," one of the paramedics said. "You'll need stitches and an x-ray. Looks like your wrist is broken."
"No," Kim stated. "Wait."
"You gotta go to the hospital, babe," Adam told her.
"No. Voight. Where's Voight?"
"What's going on?" Adam asked.
"I need to talk to Voight!" She yelled.
Adam spotted Voight coming out of the house, talking to Halstead. Adam waved him over and Voight joined them.
"Everything alright?" Voight questioned.
"He's part of the Diaz crew," Kim said.
"What?"
"The man in there. His name was Jorge Diaz. The Diaz crew ripped off the Reds last week. A huge drug shipment."
"I heard about that," Voight said.
"Wait, aren't the Reds like the biggest cocaine dealers in Chicago?" Adam asked.
"Yeah. But the CPD has never actually been able to pin anything on them," Voight explained. "They're careful. Too careful."
"He knew the Reds were after him," Kim continued. "The other man in there…he was one of the Reds. Diaz killed him. He thought Roman and I were part of that crew coming after him. That's why he shot at us."
"I don't get it," Adam said. "Once he realized you were a cop, why didn't he just kill you?"
"Because I don't think he really wanted to hurt me," Kim said.
"Then why did he tie you up?" Adam wondered. "Why hurt you when he found out who you really were?"
"I don't know. He was crazed, scared out of his mind for his life. High on drugs maybe. But Sarg, he told me where we can find one of the biggest drug distribution centers the Reds have."
"Where?" Voight asked.
"It's a shack. Off the beaten path. He said something's going down at noon tomorrow. I think it has to do with that bad cocaine that's been killing people all over the city."
"That's good, Burgess. Did he say exactly where?"
She nodded. "He drew me a map."
"Where is it?" Voight questioned.
With her good hand, Kim began pulling off her blue police shirt.
"What are you doing?" Adam asked.
"The map. It's on my back. He drew it with sharpie."
"What?" Adam replied, not sure if he heard her correctly. "This is crazy."
"I know," Kim agreed.
"Alright, walk me through this. What happened from the moment you and Roman arrived?" Voight asked.
"We approached slowly. Roman got the door and I went in first. When I walked into the house, I heard shooting and I thought Roman was a goner. But then I…I passed out. He must have hit me with the butt of the gun. When I came to, I was duct taped and laying on my stomach and he had lifted my shirt up. I thought he was going to…" she didn't need to finish for Adam to know what she thought. "But he didn't. My wrist must have snapped while I was struggling. I didn't realize at first that he was drawing something and then he…he put my clothes back on and he told me who he was and what he knew and then…and then there was a shot and he collapsed."
"We really have to get her to the hospital," one of the paramedics said.
"No!" Kim replied. "We need to stop whatever is going on tomorrow. And I'm the only one who can help."
Voight nodded. "Can you patch up her head and the wrist?"
"No way," Adam said. "She's going to the hospital. Now. We can take a picture of the map for goodness sake."
"No, Adam," Kim insisted. "I want to be part of this. I was here to start it. I want to finish it."
"You're hurt," he reminded her.
"I'm fine."
"Sarg, you can't let her perform her duties like this," Adam pleaded to Voight.
"If she says she's fine, she's fine," Voight responded.
"I'll get checked out when this is all over," she assured him.
"No. Kim…" Adam began.
"Can you patch me up?" Kim interrupted, talking to the paramedic.
"I wouldn't recommend it," the paramedic told her. "You need stitches and you should probably get a head CT. You took quite a blow."
"I'll get all the tests later," Kim said. "Please. Look, I'll sign whatever I need to sign for you to let me go. Just put some bandages on my head and I'll be fine."
"Kim, this is not a good idea," Adam said.
"I'm fine," she insisted.
"We'll see you back at Intelligence then," Voight said before walking away. Adam glanced at Kim before following Voight. He knew Voight could stop Kim if he ordered her to go to the hospital.
"You can't let her do this," Adam exclaimed. "She needs medical attention and you know it. We can stop whatever the Reds are going to do tomorrow without her."
"She's the only one who spent any time with our source," Voight explained. "We need her."
"At what cost?" Adam asked. "She's hurt!"
"She's tough. She'll be fine."
Voight walked away, ending the conversation. Adam felt like he was in the middle of the twilight zone. How was it that he was the only one who could see that Kim needed medical attention? Annoyed, he went back to the ambulance, hoping to talk more sense into Kim. The only problem was, she was already geared up to help and nothing he said persuaded her otherwise.
To be continued…
Author's Note: I know I said this story would be full of one-shots, but I couldn't help but continue this chapter. I actually wrote this chapter (and the next one) as a separate story, but after a suggestion from a reviewer (CPDRuzekFan), I decided to change the storyline a little and include it in this series of stories. Thank you for the suggestion! If anyone else has any suggestions for feelings, let me know!
