It didn't take long for that little piece of information to settle in.
They had eyes on Vito at O'Hare airport. That meant they had to move now before he was gone again. Airport security wouldn't let him get on a plane, but they had no idea how dangerous this guy could be. He already shot Jay and numerous people had OD'd after using his drug. There was no way in hell Erin was going to let more innocent people get hurt because of him. Or worse, die.
She didn't have to get her stuff, all she had to do was get her ass downstairs and get in Voight's car. Hers was still at the hospital and if truth be told, she'd much rather be shotgun right now. Her emotions were all over the place, and while she was usually the one behind the wheel, she had no problem giving that task out of hands right now.
"We have to go right now," she decided immediately, before Voight got the chance to say anything, even though he was probably going to say the same thing.
"I want every uniform on the street watching out for this guy," he said, more to the others than to her. "We're not letting this guy get away. Not after what he did. And if he flees town, he's just gonna start his business somewhere else."
Erin nodded and so did the rest of the team. Everyone agreed that they had to catch this guy before it was too late.
"All right, let's get a move on things. Lindsay, you're with me. Olinsky, I want you and Ruzek to get eyes on him as soon as possible once we get there. Make sure you get to the surveillance room and keep in touch with the rest of us. Antonio, Atwater, you're with us. We'll split up when we get there but make sure to keep your radios on an your earpieces in."
Everyone agreed, and while they got ready and packed their stuff, Erin decided she had to do something else first.
"I'll see you downstairs in a bit," she told Voight, before she turned around and walked down the stairs again, back to the desk where sergeant Platt was standing behind.
"Sarge?" she started, knocking on the wooden desk, waiting for a response.
"Erin, how can I help?"
"It's just… is Burgess around?"
"Yeah, she is. She just came in with Roman, they've arrested some punk ass kid who was lighting a dumpster on fire. He's probably gonna walk but that crime will haunt him forever."
"Yeah, okay. That's nice," Erin said, not really paying attention to what Platt was telling her. "Can you please tell her to come look for me downstairs as soon as possible? I need her help with something."
"No need to."
Erin arched her brow, confused, until she saw that Platt was looking straight past her. And so she turned around, to find Kim Burgess and Sean Roman standing right behind her.
That saved her a lot of time. Time she didn't have.
"Thank God," she said, running a hand through her hair.
"Lindsay, is everything okay?" Kim asked, a concerned look on her face. Erin knew she probably looked tired and worn off, not to mention the constant look of worry in her eyes, but she had to kept going and so she nodded in an attempt to wave away Burgess' concern.
"I'm fine. I just need you two to do something for me," she said.
"You need our help upstairs?" Roman asked. Erin didn't really knew him that well, but Burgess' trusted him and so did Antonio. He was probably solid, good police. So even though she didn't know him, she trusted him too.
"Kind of," she answered, looking at Platt over her shoulder again to get her approval before she assigned Roman and Burgess to a whole different task. Platt just looked at her, and nodded her head just once, telling Erin without words that it was okay. Whatever she needed.
"So what is it?" Burgess asked.
Erin looked at her again and sighed.
"I need you two to get over to Chicago Med and keep an eye on Jay for me. Can you do that? They've probably moved him to another room by now and I want a detail on him just to be sure. I don't know exactly what went down there, but I'm not taking any chances on this. And it would be really nice to get an update every now and then. I need to know if he gets better, okay? But I also want to know if things get worse."
Kim just looked at her for a second, trying to read her, but Erin wasn't exactly an open book. There were only a few people in her life who were able to read her, two of them were Voight and Jay.
"Sure, not a problem at all," Roman was the one who eventually answered her. In a positive way, thank God. "We'll go there right away and make sure he's safe. As soon as there's any change in his condition, we'll let you know, detective. You can count on us."
Erin smiled, sincerely, even though she didn't feel like smiling at all.
"Thanks, Roman. And you too, Burgess."
"No problem," Kim chimed in, smiling faintly as well. "Just make sure you guys catch that son of a bitch. We all want to see him brought down."
"Yeah, we'll do our best. Believe me, no one wants to see him go down more than me."
Roman and Burgess left the building and Erin watched them leave, before she turned back around to look at Platt, who was still standing behind her desk and looking at her. She'd probably heard the whole conversation.
"I don't care how you guys do it," she said, "but I want that guy off the streets. And if he happens he doesn't make it back alive, no one will shed a tear. And I'll make sure everything'll be handled."
"Thanks."
She left the entrance hall again, and only a couple of minutes later she was standing right next to Voight in the basement, next to the back entrance, where everyone had gathered, after they'd put in their earpieces and made sure everything was working. There'd be no Kevlar right now, because it would most definitely spook Vito and the last thing they wanted was for him to lose his mind. Innocent people could get hurt, and that was exactly what they wanted to prevent from happening.
"Listen up," Voight said, before everyone got in their cars to get to the airport.
"Make sure Vito doesn't see you, because if he does, we won't be able to catch him alive. And I want him alive, do you understand? I want him alive and well, to make him pay for what he did."
Everyone kept quiet, no one moved a muscle while Voight spoke. Not even Erin.
"O'Hare told us he's headed for gate 15, he's booked a flight under a fake name to Florida and we're gonna stop him. Do not, under any circumstances, let him get on that plane. Understood?"
This time there was a collective agreement.
"Good. Now let's go and get our revenge."
Erin and Voight got in the car and while he drove, she checked her phone for messages. Stupid and useless, of course. There was no way Burgess and Roman where at the hospital already. But she was dying to know how he was doing. She hoped and prayed the doctor was right and that Jay would pull through. Because even though there was no severe damage to his organs, that didn't mean he couldn't get an infection, or an internal bleeding they'd missed.
She let out a deep sigh and closed her eyes for a couple of seconds, before she opened them again and put her phone away. No messages and there would be none for the next hour or so. It was probably for the best, because she'd get distracted as soon as she knew how he was, if he was getting better or worse.
"Hey," Voight said, putting his hand on hers for a second. "You gotta put your faith in his doc, okay? He knows what he's doing. Jay has the best care possible, he'll be all right."
When she didn't answer him, he sighed and pulled back his hand.
"Look, I know you're scared to lose him. I get that. But he's a tough one, Halstead. He's not gonna go out so easily, you know that. You know him. So why don't you trust on that instinct?"
Erin looked at him, leaning her head against the headrest behind her. Voight was right, as usual. She knew Jay wouldn't give up without a fight, and neither would his body. He was strong and healthy, and those things would work in his advantage right now.
"You're right. Again. But it's just… I don't know how he's doing. I wish I could be at two places at once."
"I know… I know."
The remaining part of the ride went by in silence, and as soon as they got there, Erin got out of the car. She was the only one with an unfamiliar face. Vito hadn't seen her at his dealership so he wouldn't be on the lookout for her. She was the only one who could get close enough without him running at the first sight.
"Gate 15, right?" she asked one more time, and Voight nodded. They both had their badges and guns, and earpieces in place. Olinsky and Ruzek would make their way to the surveillance room right now, to make sure they had eyes on Vito. When they did, she and Voight would approach him from one side, while Antonio and Atwater took the other. Ruzek and Olinsky would make their way to the nearest entrance, so they'd cut off the easiest way to escape as well.
It had to work. It just had to. They'd been in worse situations.
While she and Voight made their way to the gate, she heard Ruzeks voice in her ear.
"He's waiting in line," he said, "ready to board. You guys have to hurry. He seems relaxed, though."
Erin exchanged looks with Voight, who was thinking the same thing as she was, probably.
"That sounds suspicious," she said. "All right, let's get this done. If he's relaxed, he's probably not expecting us. I'll approach him first, he doesn't know my face and he won't tie me to this morning."
"I'll be right behind you. I'm not letting him shoot another one of my people," Voight agreed.
They entered the hall near the gate not much later and Erin looked over at Antonio and Atwater, at the other side of the hall. They were both searching the crowd for Vito, until they spotted him and nodded at her. She followed their glance and that's when she saw him.
He was standing right behind and elderly couple. He matched the description and he was wearing the same clothes as that morning. She could only tell because she'd seen the photos of the security videos at the dealership.
They had him. It was over.
Erin reached for her gun and pulled it out of her holster, after she'd plucked her badge of her belt. Vito was standing with his back towards her so he would never see her coming. Good. She didn't want him to run. She wanted to be the one who caught him. She wanted to be the one to cuff him and throw him in the back of the car a little rougher than she had to. She wanted to hurt him for what he'd done to her Jay.
Very slowly she started to move in on him, gun pointed and her badge raised. The people waiting in line who saw her, were startled and some of them even gasped. Erin was sure Vito would hear the commotion behind him and start running, but for some reason he didn't.
And Erin didn't know why.
"Kyle Vito, CPD. Put your hands in the air right now! You're under arrest for running an illegal drug business and for the attempted murder on a detective," she yelled, closing in on him.
But Vito still didn't move.
"Kyle Vito, get down on your knees and put your hands behind your head!" she yelled at him again, covering the last meters between them. But still no reaction. It was like he was deaf, or maybe he was just taunting her, waiting for the last minute before he ran. Or maybe he was planning on suicide by cop, so they couldn't put him away for the rest of his life. Or maybe he knew all about Hank Voight and he knew what was coming for him. Maybe he wanted them to kill him right here and now because he didn't want to get beaten up.
"One last time, Vito," she hissed. "Put your hands behind your head."
Still no reaction. So she moved and put her gun against the back of his head before he could do anything. But he did nothing. Still nothing.
"Kyle Vito, you're under arrest," she said.
But then he turned around.
And she saw the reason why he hadn't responded to her. It felt like her whole world came crushing down around her, as if the ground beneath her feet started to crumble and she could collapse at any time. But she was too surprised, too shocked to say or do anything. She couldn't move.
The man with the scruffy beard and the blue eyes looked at her and smiled. And she knew she'd lost this round. That was bad. Real bad.
"Hello detective," the man said. "Nice to meet you. I'm Paul. I believe you're looking for my brother."
