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Josie and Grace had been home for about a couple months now. Antonio returned to work a week after Angelique's memorial. The kids went back to school at that time too. Josie was slowly adjusting to having a new baby at home and not being in the field. She wasn't used to just being at home. She was unloading the dishwasher when Grace's cries came over the baby monitor. She closed the dishwasher and made her way to the nursery.
"Shh… it's okay, Grace. Mommy's here… I'm here." She gently rubbed Grace's back. Grace settled down but was still whimpering a little. Josie checked her diaper. "Ah. Well, that explains it." She took Grace to the change table and quickly changed her diaper and slipped her into a new onesie. "There. All better."
Grace cooed for her. Josie knew that Grace wasn't going to be going back to sleep any time soon. She took her and put her in her bouncy chair in the kitchen. Josie could keep an eye on here there while she worked on prepping after school snacks. She didn't know when Antonio would be home, but she knew that the kids would be back home in about an hour. She also would get supper going so that everyone was in bed at a decent hour. The last few days, the kids had been going to bed later than they should've and that resulted in very grumpy kids the next morning when it was time to get them off to school.
She had just pulled the taquitos out of the oven when the kids came running into the kitchen.
"Hey Mom!" They all exclaimed before rushing to the table to give their baby sister kisses.
"Well, at least we don't have to worry about you guys adjusting to her." Josie laughed. "Okay, snacks… homework… then you guys can have some free time."
"I have practice tonight." Xavier reminded her.
Josie groaned. "I forgot about that! Xavier, I'm sorry… um…" She wasn't ready to take Grace outside in the crisp autumn air for such a long period of time just yet.
"Mom, it's okay… Tia Gaby said she'd come pick me up… and Diego wants to come watch." Xavier smiled. "I know I want you there, but there's going to be more practices and there are always the games."
Josie wanted to cry. She could've never imagined having such a mature young man as her son. "What did I do to have such great kids?"
"You just taught us well." Zoë grinned. "That and we don't want to add more stress."
"What will you girls be up to?" Josie asked.
"I've got to practice some of my knife skills for the competition next week." Zoë answered. "So, if it's okay with you, I'll invade the kitchen?"
"Well, maybe, I'll leave you to finish making supper then." Josie grinned.
"Then if she's making supper, could you help me with my history paper?" Eva chimed in. "It's about the suffragette movement."
"I can definitely do that." Josie grinned. "Alright, boys… snack then homework until Tia Gaby gets here."
Grace started to whimper. Josie swept in. "Okay, I'm gonna go feed Grace because she's jealous that you guys get taquitos."
The kids laughed as they grabbed their snacks and went to sit at the kitchen table. Josie took Grace and went to the living room to feed her. Gaby arrived right after she'd finished nursing her. Gaby spent a couple minutes fawning over her niece before shooing the boys out to her car for Xavier's practice. Zoë decided to make stew with the ingredients that Josie had pulled out. Josie put Grace down for a nap and set to helping Eva with her history assignment.
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Antonio groaned. "This is the 3rd death from this shit… and he's only a kid." He pulled the white sheet over the body.
Jules shook her head. "I know." Jules knew that cases involving kids hit Antonio harder now, especially since this victim was the same age as Xavier and Zoë. "Look, we'll get this guy."
"Not fast enough." Antonio snapped his gloves off and stormed out of the house.
Jules went to chase after him, but Jay stepped in. "Let me try to talk to him?"
Jules nodded and went to join Erin Lindsay, who was interviewing the victim's mother.
"Yo! 'Tonio!" Jay called after Antonio. "You okay, bro?"
Antonio leaned against his car. "No. No, I'm not. I will never understand these kids' fascination with trying new and dangerous things because they're taboo."
"You telling me you didn't do stupid shit when you were that age?"
Antonio groaned. "No… I did stupid shit, but after it almost got me killed, I quit. I took up boxing and I worked my ass off to become a cop."
"Well, not everyone has your determination." Jay reminded him. "We'll find this guy."
"We better, because honestly, I don't know if I can keep looking down on someone's kid then have to tell their parents… go home to my own family and not be able to explain any of this to them. Ever since Josie had Grace and we lost Angelique… I feel like I've pulled away from them because I don't want to add stress to their lives and make things harder for her."
"Having 5 kids between the ages of newborn and 15 is stressful for anyone."
"Try having both of us being cops too… she knows something's up. I try to talk about different things, but… she knows… Josie knows something is bugging me." Antonio ran his hand through his hair. "I want to tell her… ask her opinion… but it doesn't work that way. She's on Mat Leave… and our boss is also my father-in-law. That's just… fuck." He pounded the hood of the car. "I thought I could leave work at work…"
"I know. It follows you home." Jay patted his shoulder. "Look, we're done here. Let's head back to District and go over the analysis of the drug itself. Could have a distinct aspect that could lead us to the dealer."
"Yeah… you're right on that." Antonio nodded.
Jules and Erin left the house and headed over. "Back to District?" Erin asked.
Jay and Antonio nodded. They were about to head to their respective vehicles when Voight stormed out of the house and jumped into his Durango before tearing off down the street.
Antonio stared at Erin. "What the fuck is his problem?"
Erin shrugged. "No clue." She hopped in the driver's seat and waited for Jay to join her.
Antonio shook his head and got into his car where Jules was waiting.
"You okay?" Jules asked.
"I don't know anymore." Antonio put the car in gear and headed back to the district.
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Josie was in the middle of explaining the different stages of the suffragette movement when the doorbell rang. Grace began to wail. Josie looked to Eva. "Can you get that? I'll go get Grace?"
"Sure." Eva nodded and bounded for the door.
Josie poked her head into the kitchen. "Everything going okay in here?"
Zoë nodded. "Yeah. I'm good. Go get Grace." She laughed as she began sautéing some veggies.
Josie sighed. Her little girl was grown up and didn't need to have her hand held anymore. Now she had an infant that was going to need her a little more than her four older children. It was a welcome change. She missed having a baby at home, but at the same time she had forgotten the amount of energy a baby took.
Eva opened the door. "Hi."
A tall, well-dressed man stood on the porch. "Hi there." His voice was deep and had a peculiar accent.
"Can I help you?" Eva asked.
Josie's voice came from the living room. "Who's at the door, Eva?"
"I'm looking for a, uh…" He looked at a notepad. "Detective Dawson?"
"Uh, just wait here." Eva told him. She went to the living room. "Some guy looking for Detective Dawson… didn't specify which one."
Josie got up and handed Eva her baby sister. "I'll go see who it is."
"Sure thing, Mom." Eva carefully cradled her baby sister.
Josie made her way to the door and stood in shock of who was standing there. "Mike St. Ange. It's been a long time." Josie crossed her arms across her chest.
"Josie Duplessis." He grinned. "I got told at the District that you weren't a cop anymore."
"Uh… that is a long story…"
"Does it include a secret daughter?"
"Eva?"
Mike nodded.
"Eva is my step-daughter… well, we're doing the paperwork for me to legally adopt her."
"We?"
"Come in, it's gonna take too long to explain this on the porch in November." Josie stepped back to let Mike into the house.
Mike stepped in and took off his coat. "Damn cold out here compared to New Orleans."
"I've gotten used to it." Josie grinned. "So, you come all the way up from NOLA to ask about the weather?"
"No… uh, I was told to come speak to a Detective Dawson and was told they went home… so, you know this Detective Dawson?"
Josie snickered. "You'll have to be very specific. Which Dawson?"
"There's more than one?"
"Yeah, Antonio or me?" Josie said softly.
"You? Dawson? What?"
Josie raised her left hand. "I'm still a Detective… just not in Vice anymore. I'm Detective Josie Dawson, Intelligence."
"Well… a lot changed in the last 5 years." Mike laughed.
"Yeah… well…" Josie was interrupted by Grace's cries.
"Mom! Grace has a wet diaper again!" Eva called.
"Coming." Josie sighed. "Come with me. May as well catch up as we go."
"Who's Grace?" Mike asked.
"Grace is my one-month old daughter." Josie answered as they made their way into the living room. "Eva." Josie took Grace from her arms. "This is my old partner from New Orleans, Mike St. Ange."
"Hi." Eva said timidly.
"Hi." Mike smiled.
"Eva, go see if you can help Zoë in the kitchen." Josie knew that there were going to be a bunch of questions, but she could only field them from one person at a time.
Eva headed off into the kitchen.
Mike looked to her. "So, Eva is…"
"Antonio's 13-year-old daughter." Josie replied. She began to change Grace. "Um… so yeah."
"Okay, so y'all gotta fill me in. I'm very confused. You told me that he was married when y'all came back in '05."
Josie took a deep breath. "He was. His wife was pregnant with Diego… who's at practice with Xavier right now. She didn't want me around, so I wasn't… but I only recently found out that she was in a car crash shortly before Diego was born that left her brain dead. Antonio kept her on life support as long as possible so Diego had the best chance. He raised both kids as a single dad until, well… very recently."
"Okay… following so far."
"I stayed close friends with his sister, Gaby… she knew but I didn't want to hear anything about him… so I worked in Homicide for a bit but then got moved over to Vice… Antonio was Vice too, but we never worked together until about a year ago." Josie slid Grace's onesie back over her fresh diaper. "I was working UC at the hospital. I had gotten in with a pimp here… I was his inside track if his girls got brought into the ED… anyhow, I went to a bar with some of the nurses from the ED and the pimp came in. Antonio was working for him as security… he got him to back off… Uh… I didn't know it was him… I went back to his place, well his cover's place… and we had sex… And Grace, here, is the result."
"Wow." Mike stroked his jawline. "Just, wow. So, he obviously found out… you were alive and that he had kids?"
"Yeah… he stayed with me through physio and everything… and he was there when I found out who my dad really is."
"Your mama finally let you in on that secret?"
"Yeah… turns out he's our boss in Intelligence… the same guy who smuggled me out of the house the day I found the explosives."
"Voight?! Your biological father is HANK VOIGHT!?" Mike couldn't hold in his shock. "Jesus Christ!"
"Hey, simmer down." Josie motioned to Grace who was starting to dose off. "I don't need to have her screaming today."
"So not only is he your boss, and Antonio's… he's also your dad?"
"Yep."
"Damn… that must be awkward." Mike leaned back into the couch.
"Yep. Especially since Antonio arrested him last year… and my half-brother."
"Wow… aren't you're the queen of family drama now?"
"Oh, Mike… trust me… it's no picnic. Then when Antonio and I actually found each other again and started to make this relationship work, Eva wasn't really fond of the idea because she still had memories of her mother." Josie explained the rest of the story, from the pregnancy to the wedding and finally with the birth of Grace and Angelique. "Angelique was still born."
"Oh, Jo… I'm so sorry!"
"It's been hard, but we've been making it through… one day at a time."
"Wow." Mike ran his hand through his hair. "You've been through hell the last 8 years."
"Mostly the last year… but yeah." Josie sighed. "So, what the hell are you doing so far north?"
"Uh, chasing down one of our ghosts."
"What?"
Mike nodded. "We got an alert that Detective Dawson in the Intelligence unit here in Chicago input some data concerning a case that sent up red flags back in NOLA."
"Which case?" Josie repositioned Grace in her arms.
"Antonio doesn't talk to you about it?"
Josie cocked her head to one side. "He doesn't want to stress me out… you know 5 kids, and one is a month or so old?"
"Fair enough."
"So, Mike… seriously… who are you chasing?"
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Antonio walked into the front doors of the district, physically exhausted.
"Dawson!" Platt called him to the desk.
"Yeah, Sarge?" Antonio looked to his old partner. "What's up?"
"Some guy came looking for you… Detective St…. something… said he has news on the case you're working on."
"Okay, well… where is he?" Antonio looked around.
"I was told you went home… I sent him there." Trudy didn't even look up from her computer.
"Oh, shit." Antonio groaned.
"What?" Trudy seemed annoyed that he was still standing there.
"I didn't want work going home… too much stress on Jo."
"Look, I'm sure he won't stay and bug her if you're not there." Trudy tried to ease his anxiety.
"Yeah, you're probably right." Antonio sighed. "Thanks, Sarge."
He went back to join Jules upstairs. He was halfway to Intelligence when his phone pinged. He looked at the text from Eva. "What the hell?"
"Hey, what's up?" Jules asked.
Antonio showed her the phone. "There was some guy here earlier asking for me, Platt sent him to the house because that's where she'd been told I went… and he's sitting in my living room with Josie and the baby."
"What?!" Jules took the phone and read the text from Eva. "It was Jo's old partner?"
"That's what Eva's saying… I… Let's go… gotta find this out what the fuck is going on around here."
"Yeah, yeah." Jules handed him back his phone. She followed him as he raced to his car to get home.
It didn't take long for them to get to their house, especially since Antonio threw on the lights and sirens to run every red light between the district and Wicker Park. He killed the sirens and lights as he pulled into their block. He pulled up into the driveway and killed the engine. He looked to Jules. "Could you… uh, just make sure I don't kill this guy?"
"You got it." Jules nodded.
Antonio ran up the steps of the house and headed in. He didn't announce anything. He had texted Eva to tell her to stay where she was with Zoë and that he was coming home. He wanted to know about this guy. He got the feeling that there was something about this guy and he wanted to know why he'd still be here even though Josie would've told him that he wasn't home. "Jo?" Antonio called out.
Josie looked to Mike. "Antonio's home." She called out. "In the living room, babe."
Antonio headed over there, keeping one hand near his gun and signaled for Jules to check on the girls. "Jo?"
"Hey, baby." Josie got up and kissed Antonio. "Uh, Mike St. Ange, I'd like you to meet my husband, Antonio Dawson… Antonio, this is Mike St. Ange, my former partner back in New Orleans."
Mike got up off the couch with Grace in his arms. He extended his hand. Antonio shook it but felt his blood boil when he saw another man holding his infant daughter.
He took Grace from Mike. "Hi." Antonio said. "Uh, curious… if you were looking for me, why are you here?"
"Antonio!" Josie hissed. "He came to help on your case."
Antonio groaned. "Sorry, uh… Detective. I just have been keeping my work life away from my personal life… just a little less stress on Jo and the kids."
"She explained that to me. I get it. It's been a long year for you guys and your family." Mike smiled. "Uh, we were just catching up… but, she is probably a big help in this case."
"How so?" Jules asked.
Everyone spun around.
"Jesus, Jules!" Josie exclaimed. "Where'd you come from?"
"The kitchen… by the way, I'm so staying for supper." Jules laughed. "That stew that those girls are cooking up is amazing."
"Well… the more the merrier." Antonio said. He knew that Jules was only there to stop things from getting out of control. He still needed to get a feel for this Mike character.
"So, you were saying?" Jules looked to Mike.
"Jo and I, we chased this guy you're looking way back when we worked Narcotics and in Vice, back New Orleans." Mike replied.
"How did you even find out about our case?" Antonio questioned.
"The drug composition you put into the system… it alerted us in NOLA… to a bunch of unsolved overdoses in our area."
"You know the dealer?"
"Yep." Jo stepped in. "He was the one who got away… my white whale."
Antonio turned to face his wife. "You're joking, right?"
Jo shook her head. "Nope."
Antonio groaned. "Okay, well… you guys are gonna have to fill us in… back at the District."
"What about Grace?" Josie motioned to their sleeping daughter.
"Take her with us." Antonio said. "It'll keep your dad from flipping his shit, knowing that you have connections to this."
"Yeah, I guess." Josie sighed. "I'll go get her car seat."
"I'll ride with you." Mike said, a little too quickly for Antonio's liking.
"Actually, maybe it's best if you ride with me." Jules jumped in. She didn't need Antonio's fiery Dominican temper to get out of line right now.
"Sure, whatever's easiest." Mike laughed. "See you guys there?"
Antonio nodded. He handed Jules the keys and went to talk to the girls in the kitchen before heading back out.
Josie got Grace strapped into the car seat and headed to meet Antonio at her Enclave.
"Jo," Antonio asked after getting Grace's car seat in the car. "Why didn't you tell me about your old partner?"
Josie looked to him. "Does it really matter?"
"Yeah, it does." Antonio buckled up. "I see the way he looks at you… there's… something there, more than partnership."
Josie started the engine. "Can I explain everything… tonight? When you're not pissed off at the fact that he showed up on our doorstep. Pretty sure if I took your blood pressure right now, it'd be through the roof."
"Fine. Tonight." Antonio muttered.
"Just so you know, he's married… with two kids." Josie said backing out of the garage.
Antonio wanted to say that meant nothing, but he didn't want to fight. Not today.
They arrived at the District. Josie unbuckled Grace from her car seat and Antonio grabbed the diaper bag. She locked the vehicle and they headed upstairs to the Intelligence bullpen.
Erin and Jay were asking Jin where Voight was when they got there. Erin looked up. "Hey, Josie! What are you doing here?"
"Uh, came to bring you guys a lead." Josie smiled.
Erin came over and took Grace from her arms. While Josie was still getting used to the fact that Erin was basically like a daughter to her father, she really did enjoy having her as a 'sister'. She doted on all 5 children, and had learned to listen more to Antonio since the Intelligence unit became official. "What lead?" She looked between both Dawsons.
"That's where he comes in." Jules said, pointing to Mike, who was steps behind her.
"Who's he?" Jay asked.
"Mike St. Ange." Mike extended his hand.
"Mike was my partner back in NOLA." Josie smiled. "Whatever info you guys put in the system, sent up some red flags down there and he came up here to help. Turns out, the bad dope you've been chasing… comes from…"
Suddenly, Hank Voight came barreling up the stairs. He whispered something to Jin and then froze. "Josie! What… what are you and the baby doing here?"
"Uh, information… on your case…" She turned to Mike. "Mike St. Ange, this is my dad… Sergeant Hank Voight. Dad… this is Mike… he was my partner back in New Orleans."
Hank looked and saw that Grace was in Erin's arms. "And you brought Gracie for a visit."
"Yeah, Dad." Josie smiled. She knew her dad had a reputation for not liking 'foreign' cops in his bullpen.
Erin knowing what Josie was up to, placed the sleeping Grace into her grandfather's arms.
"Okay… I got a name." Hank said softly, for the first time since Intelligence's history.
"Rev." Josie and Mike said in unison.
Hank's jaw dropped. "You know this clown?"
Mike nodded. "Sadly."
"Dad, he's my white whale." Josie said. "His drugs have killed lots of people back in New Orleans too."
Jules pulled up Rev's rap sheet on her computer. "He hasn't been in Chicago very long… how the hell hasn't CPD been onto this guy."
"I think it's because he's got connections now… people that help him cover his tracks." Mike stepped up. "Not sure who, but they're also the ones who had to tell him to get the out of New Orleans. We almost had him… but he disappeared off the radar… back before Katrina hit."
"He hasn't been in Chicago that long." Jules said. "He may have been somewhere else, but he wasn't here."
"Okay, well… my source told me he deals out of an apartment on South Emerald. We roll out in 5." Hank turned to Josie. "Can, uh… you two stay here and we'll hopefully be able to lay this whole thing to rest?" Hank looked down at his sleeping granddaughter. "You are the sweetest thing." He kissed the tip of her nose. "Love you, Gracie." He handed Grace back to her mother. "We'll be back soon."
"Sure. I'll call Gaby and let her know to stay with the kids until we come home." Josie nodded. She gently took Grace from her father's arms. "Be safe."
"Always will." He signaled to Erin and Jay. "You two, undercover buy in the doorway. Don't cross that threshold." He paused. "Everyone goes home tonight."
Jay and Erin went to change while the others geared up for this op. Josie followed Antonio. "Promise me you'll be safe."
Antonio grinned. "Always, baby."
"Antonio… Rev isn't just a banger." Josie tried to reason with her husband. "Like, this guy is into all kinds of shit."
"Jo, babe… I've been in Chicago my whole life… I know. I know how dangerous these guys are. I love you and I will be coming home to you, and to our kids." He kissed her deeply. "I promise." He kissed Grace's cheek. "I promise you both."
Josie sighed. "Okay… we're holding you to that… Plus Zoë made stew for supper."
"I wouldn't miss it." He grabbed his vest and strapped it on. He made on final check on his weapons and said. "I gotta go, baby. Stay here. Uh… Just… be careful with your old partner."
"Antonio, I promised you that I would tell you everything tonight… don't push it." Josie said. "I love you."
"Love you more." He said before following Jules to his car.
Josie closed the roll up door and headed back upstairs to the bull pen and wait anxiously for the team to come home, hopefully in one piece.
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Erin and Jay made their way to the address that Voight's source had given them. Antonio and Jules stayed in his car as backup. Voight and Al were back in Voight's Durango. They listened in on the conversation.
Jay pounded on the door. "Rev! Hey! Rev, open up!"
Antonio spoke over the radio. "I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that Rev isn't home."
"Come on, man!" Jay continued pounding on the door.
"What!?" An annoyed voice came over the comms.
"Uh." Jay stumbled over his words. "Is Rev here?"
"No!" The stranger barked. "So quit pounding on the door."
"Hey, man… Yo, my girl… she's going into rehab tomorrow. Wants to go out with a bang tonight. Rev… he usually hooks me up." Jay tried to convince this other guy to do the buy.
Antonio wanted to tell him not to push it, but he couldn't risk blowing their cover.
"You ever been to rehab, man? It sucks." Jay pushed a little more.
Antonio was groaning internally. Jay needed to cool off a little or else he was going to freak this guy out.
"Come in." The stranger said.
Erin stopped Jay from stepping into the house. "We'll come back when Rev's here." She said in a very forceful tone.
Jay snapped back. "You've been up my ass for two hours about scoring some H."
Erin retorted sarcastically. "Well… I changed my mind."
Jay laughed softly. "Mujeres, right?"
The stranger grunted and slammed the door in Jay and Erin's faces. They took off to the meeting point. Antonio drove around the block to meet them. Voight was already there waiting. They gathered around to go over what happened.
"It looked like blood." Erin was trying to justify not going through with the buy. "That and we didn't know that guy."
"You don't have to justify it. If you got a bad hit, you got a bad hit." Voight reassured her. "Let's go in."
The whole team knew how badly they needed to catch Rev, but they also knew that they had no justifiable cause for a forced entry. Jules stepped in. "No, 'cause maybe it looked like blood? That's not probable cause to force an entry."
Antonio jumped in to help his partner out. "He could've been marinating a chicken and spilled barbecue sauce on his pants." He looked to see Voight giving him a death glare.
Voight added to it "We've got 3 OD's traced back to the heroin Rev's moving. You wanna wait for another kid to die?"
Al, sensing the tension rising, threw in a perfect idea. "We'll do a knock and talk. Alright? Whoever's in control of the apartment gets squirrely, we'll take it from there. Okay?"
His suggestion was most logical and permitted them more advantages than just barging in guns blazing. This calmed everyone and got them focused back on the ultimate goal.
Hank keyed his radio. "We're going back up, stand by."
Burgess responded. "Tucked in and ready to go, boss."
Once everyone was ready, they made their way back to the apartment. Hank questioned Antonio. "Barbecue sauce as a marinade… what is that? Some kinda Puerto Rican thing or something?"
Antonio sighed. Hank should know this already, especially considering they'd known each other for some time already. "I'm Dominican."
"It's got too much sugar in it. It'll burn the meat." Hank added.
Antonio really could've cared less about the grilling tips at this point. They had no clue as to what they were walking into. As soon as Hank finished his two bits, gunfire started to rain down on them from Rev's apartment. Everyone dove for cover, Hank almost hip checking Antonio behind the trunk of a parked sedan.
Antonio grabbed his radio. "10-1!" He shouted. "Shots fired at the police! 10-1! 5600 Emerald. Plain clothes officers at the scene!" Last thing anyone needed was to get caught in the crossfire when other units responded.
Voight looked to the others behind him. He bellowed over the gunfire. "Get the long guns!"
Jay, and Al ran back to them from the back of their coverts. Al grabbed his battering ram at the same time. They didn't have time to mess with doors that were most likely reinforced. They got back to the others as Burgess and Atwater pulled up, sirens blaring. Once everyone was properly armed, they made their way back up to the front of Rev's apartment.
Antonio took point upon entrance. "Police! Clear!" He shouted as he swept through the apartment, Jules on his tail.
Jules and Erin went ahead of him and cleared the next rooms. "Clear!" Jules shouted.
Erin called back. "Body!"
They all made their way to the living room. Jay was the last one to come in from the exterior. He looked into the bathroom. "That's Rev in the john." He told the others upon joining them in the living room.
Antonio looked to Voight. "Offender musta booked."
Voight was livid. Rev may be dead, but someone killed him and someone was supplying him with the bad heroin. He grabbed his walkie. "Call it in. Clear the rest of the building. Shooter's in the wind."
A noise from the closet put everyone on high alert. Jules went to the closet and grabbed the handle. On Antonio and Voight's signal, she opened the door. Everyone pointed their weapons at a young boy, no older than 12 or 13. His hands were raised. Jules holstered her weapon and cuffed him. He may not have been the shooter, but he witnessed something. He was the only lead they had. They would question him back at the District.
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Once back at the roll up, Voight told Jules to bring their witness upstairs. They'd pull his file, which he almost certainly had, and they get him to give them everything he knew.
Antonio stopped in front of his father-in-law. "Beheading? That's a signature cartel move."
Voight agreed with him. Antonio nodded and went off after Jules. Together, they'd hopefully be able to get something out of D'Anthony.
Josie and Mike were still going over everything they could remember about Rev and how he had worked when the others got there. Mike gave Jay and Erin the files he'd brought up from New Orleans. It was a lot of paper work. Antonio kept his eye on Mike. He trusted and believed his wife, but he didn't trust Mike any further than he could throw him.
"Hey, got D'Anthony's file." Jules walked up him. "Ready to see if he'll talk?"
Antonio sighed. "Yeah, well… as ready as I'll ever be to interrogate a kid that's my kid's age who's running drugs."
Josie looked at him. She could see this case was weighing on him. She went over and kissed his cheek. "It's gonna be okay, baby."
"I know… just hate these cases that involve kids."
"I know. I hate 'em too." She smiled. "Just, don't be too hard on him."
"I know." He laughed. He looked over and caught Mike staring at them for a split second before he turned back to the file he was going over with Jay. He grabbed the file Jules was holding and together they headed to the interrogation room.
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"I heard Rev was looking for a runner." D'Anthony was explaining. "You know, get his lunch and smokes and lottery tickets and stuff. So, I went over there to see if I could get the job. Someone knocked on the door, he went out of the room. I heard yelling, and that's… that's when I ducked into the closet."
Antonio slid part of D'Anthony's file across the table. "You're in our gang database, D'Anthony. We know you were in the same crew as Rev. Did he piss someone off? Was someone moving in on is action?"
D'Anthony looked down at the paper Antonio had slid to him. He knew he'd been caught in a lie, but these cops were different that the ones that usually questioned him.
Jules' maternal instinct kicked in. She softened her tone and showed her concern for D'Anthony. "Did you see what happened to Rev?"
D'Anthony shook his head. "No." His voice cracked. "I heard it."
Jules reached across the table and took D'Anthony's hand. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." D'Anthony shrugged off her hand and pulled his arms closer into his chest.
Jules looked to Antonio. At this point, it was looking more and more like they needed his tough cop to break this kid.
"What all did you hear?" Antonio pushed. They needed to know who took Rev out.
D'Anthony looked away. They could tell whatever it was that he heard, it wasn't good. "There were three of them." His voice was quieter.
"Did you get a good look at them?" Antonio asked.
"No, I hid as soon as I heard the yelling."
"What were they saying?"
Jules kept an eye on D'Anthony's posture and body language.
"I dunno. Most of it was in Spanish."
"How about a name?"
D'Anthony bit his lip. "I don't know if it was a name, but Rev kept yelling 'Pulpo'."
Antonio and Jules froze. They looked to each other. This had just gone from bad to worse in a heartbeat. They thanked D'Anthony and left the interrogation room.
"Can't be the same Pulpo." Jules tried to reason.
Antonio shrugged and headed back to the bullpen. He went to his computer and pulled up a mug shot of Pulpo. If it was him, Jay and Erin would be able to ID him. He handed Erin the mugshot.
"Yeah, that's him. That was the guy who answered the door."
Antonio took the picture back. He pinned it to the whiteboard. "Adres Dias, aka Pulpo. The Octopus. He's got dual citizenship here and in Columbia." He wrote on the board that he was associated to the Medellin Cartel. "Me and Jules had him on our radar about five years back, when he was working his way up from street enforcer."
"Yeah, I remember his name." Voight said from the back of the room, where he was gently rocking Grace. "Didn't he beat a double murder rap?"
Jules nodded. "The two key witnesses were killed."
"Was he cutting off heads back then, too?" Erin asked.
"No, he learned a thing or two since he was in Colombia." Jules replied.
"What type of player was he? What part of the city did he hold down?" Jay asked, rapidfire.
"Oh, see, that's the thing… he wasn't affiliated with any faction." Antonio answered, tapping Pulpo's file against his open palm. "Nobody knew his real script. He was just in it for the money and the blood."
Josie cringed. Those were the worst type of criminal. They had no loyalty but to themselves. "I guess that explains where Rev got the help." She whispered to Mike.
"Definitely would explain that." He agreed.
Voight looked to Josie. "Take Grace… go home. I'll send everyone home for the night in a little bit." He turned back to the others. "You two." Signalling to Jay and Antonio. "In my office."
Josie looked to Antonio and mouthed. "What did you do?"
Antonio shrugged and mouthed back. "No idea." He glared at Jay before handing the file to Jules and headed to Hank's office, Jay in tow.
As they walked into his office, Voight spoke. "Have you ever heard the expression, '10% of the cops do 90% of the work'?"
"I have." Jay answered, putting his hands on his hips.
"Well, this Intelligence unit… is part of that 10%." Voight said, pulling his leather jacket on. "With that said, I appreciate your aggressiveness, but you were instructed to do an undercover buy in the doorway." Hank put emphasis on the word 'doorway'. "I never told you to cross the threshold. If you had… you and Lindsay might not have gotten out of there alive." He turned to Antonio and pointed a finger at him. "You vouched for him. Keep him in line." He pushed his way between the two and signalled to Erin that they were rolling out.
Antonio looked to Jay. "Can't you follow orders?"
"I can… but I wanted this guy off the streets."
"Yeah, well… keep your head down and keep in line. He may only be your boss, but he's my boss and my father-in-law… that's a double whammy I don't wanna deal with. Got it?"
Jay nodded. "Yeah, I got it."
Antonio went to Josie. "Hey, so… go home… I'll be there soon… okay? Jules and the kids will be joining us for supper tonight… Alec is working overnight and she really wants that stew that Zoë's been cooking."
Josie nodded and kissed him. "Okay, but just so you know, Mike is gonna be there too."
"Why?" Antonio asked, more aggressively than he had meant to.
"Because I invited him and he wants to see the twins. He's known them a good chunk of their life."
"I'm not exactly fond of that idea, Jo."
"Antonio… he's just a friend. You don't see me getting all uppity because you spend hours on end with Jules."
"Jules is my partner."
"Mike was mine." Josie snapped. "I'm going home to check on the kids. I'll see you there." She buckled Grace into her car seat. "Maybe you need some time to cool off."
"Jo!" Antonio called after her.
"What the hell was about?" Jules walked up to him.
"I opened my big Dominican mouth." Antonio sighed. "You able to dig anything up on the Mike character?"
"I got a friend down there looking into him."
"Thanks."
"Hey!" Jay said. "Erin just texted me. They got a name on Rev's transport guy. We got an address. They want us to meet us there."
Antonio groaned. "Okay, vest up." He looked around. "Where's Olinski?"
"Getting a recruit from the Academy if we need to do another buy." Jules replied.
"Oh… okay… Let's roll out." Antonio grabbed his jacket and headed down the stairs. He just prayed that Josie wouldn't be pissed at him by the time he got home.
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They pulled up to Coop's address and quietly opened the gate to head onto the porch. Antonio, Jay and Erin went up first. Jules and Voight were keeping an eye on the street and alley.
Antonio pounded on the door. "Eric Cooper! Hey, Coop! Open up!" He pounded harder.
Jay pointed to the door. "Pry marks."
Both detectives looked to Voight who nodded. "Breach."
Jay aimed his shotgun at the lock and fired. He kicked the door open and let Antonio take point.
"Police!" Antonio shouted. He cleared the living room. "Clear!"
Jules, Jay and Erin cleared the other rooms. They found no one, but they did find Coop's decapitated body lying in a pool of blood on the kitchen floor and his head on the kitchen counter.
Voight looped his thumbs into his belt. "Next head I see… better be Pulpo's." He turned on his heel and headed back outside.
Jules called in the crime unit. She looked to Antonio and shook her head. This case with Pulpo was worse than the one from 5 years ago. Antonio nodded and headed outside after his father-in-law.
He looked at his watch. "Fuck."
"Antonio." Voight walked up to him. "What's going on between you and Josie?"
"Whatta ya mean?"
"You know damn well what I mean." Voight grasped at his vest. "Something's not right between you two right now."
Antonio sighed. "It's her old partner."
"What about him?"
"I don't trust him." Antonio said bluntly. "The way he looks at her…"
"Oh, so I'm not the only one who saw him making puppy eyes at her?"
Antonio stared at him. "What? You saw that too?"
"Only thing that stopped me from wiping that look off his face was Gracie." Voight answered. "You gonna talk to him?"
"I wanna punch his goddamn lights out, but Jo just keeps defending him. She points out how close Jules and I are, but we don't look at each other that way."
Voight grunted. "Hmph. Well… go home, sort this out. We'll keep hunting Pulpo down tomorrow." He motioned to the others to join them. "Sun's gone down. No point in chasing ghosts in the dark. Go home, rest up. We'll meet at the District at 7 tomorrow morning. Go over what we've got so far."
They nodded and parted ways. Antonio took Jules home so she could pick up Liam and Emmy. Then they all headed to Antonio's for supper. He bought a bouquet of wild flowers on the way home in hopes of calming Josie down. He didn't know how well that would work, but he had to try something. He went into the dinning room where Josie was setting the table. He extended the bouquet. "I'm sorry, Jo. I blew this whole thing out of proportion."
Josie stopped looked at the bouquet then at him. She put down the cutlery and took the bouquet from him. "Damn right you did." She smelled the flowers. "Hmm. You're lucky you're cute… and I like flowers." She kissed him on the cheek. "Did you get anything else on the case?"
Antonio nodded grimly. "Another decapitated body." He whispered.
"Shit." Josie took the flowers to the kitchen to trim and put in a vase with water.
"Yeah. Voight called it off for tonight. We're gonna look at it with clear eyes tomorrow."
"Well, I have to agree with him." She put the flowers on the island. "Clear eyes and rested brains tend to work better."
"Yep." He looked around. "Where are the kids?"
"With Gaby out back." She smiled. They're making leaf piles and jumping in them.
"Grace too?"
"No, Gaby just wanted time with her niece." Josie said. "Go wash up, dinner's almost served."
"Where's Mike?"
"I dropped him off at his hotel. He's gonna be here soon. He had to go update his captain."
"Ah. Okay. Jules and the kids are coming in right now." Antonio added.
"There's more than enough stew and fresh bread." Josie pointed to the vast amount of food that was in the kitchen.
"She baked bread too?" Antonio was astonished.
"Bread, cinnamon buns and she made pecan pie… the way my mama makes it."
"Damn!" Antonio went over to smell the bread. "At least we know she'll never starve in college."
"I think she wants to go to culinary school." Josie pointed out. "Go… wash up." The doorbell rang. "Everyone's here."
"Going… going." He laughed and headed to the master bathroom to clean up and change.
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After supper, Jules and her kids headed home so she could get them tucked in and read them their bedtime stories.
Antonio and Josie walked her to the door. "Thanks for coming tonight."
"Hey, what are partners for?" She hugged him. She looked to Liam and Emmy. "Whatta ya say to Antonio and Josie?"
"Thank you for supper." They grinned.
Antonio laughed. Josie just grinned back. "Any time. You guys are always welcome." She bent down and hugged them both. "Sweet dreams you two."
Jules got them into their booster seats and headed home. Antonio and Josie waited until she'd pulled away from the curb to go back to the kitchen to go through the dishes. Antonio froze when he saw the scene in front of him. His children were laughing and joking with Mike in their kitchen.
Josie could see the rage in his face. She cleared her throat. "Hey, guys… it's getting pretty late and four of you have school in the morning."
"But Mom!" All four kids whined at once.
"No buts." Josie put her hands on her hips. "Say goodnight to Mike… and go get ready for bed."
The kids knew better than to be asked twice. They did as they were told, hugged their parents and bid Mike a good night. They headed off to their rooms to brush their teeth and get changed into their pyjamas.
Antonio looked at Josie. "Uh…"
"I wasn't about to have World War III erupt in my kitchen." Josie said. She looked between them. "You two… need to talk… I'm going to go bathe Grace and get her ready for bed. Solve this, or I call Dad."
Antonio watched as his wife stomped off to the nursery. He spun and glared at Mike. "Leave the dishes… you and I… we're gonna have a little chat."
Mike put the dish towel down and followed Antonio to the basement. "Torture chamber?"
"No… workout space." Antonio muttered. He sat on one of the benches. "Now… We're alone… I wanna know… why you making eyes at my WIFE?"
"I beg your pardon?"
"Don't play dumb… I've been a detective for over a decade… I know signs… what you got going on with Jo?"
"Nothing."
"Bullshit." Antonio stood up. "Even her own father, my boss, could see you have feelings for her… so you start talking… or I lay you out right here, right now."
Mike glared at him. "Go ahead… lay me out. It won't stop anything."
"Listen here… Josie and I… we should've been married a long time ago… we should've raised those twins ourselves. I sure as fuck didn't want her to do it alone!" Antonio spat. "I didn't have a say any more than she did. So what makes you think you can just waltz back in her life 8 years later?!"
Mike said nothing.
"Aren't you married?" Antonio grabbed his left hand. "What does your wife have to say about all this?!"
Mike yanked his hand away from Antonio. "You were out of their lives for almost 15 years! You think you can just walk into their lives and pretend nothing happened?!"
"No! I know that! I've been making up for the last 15 years. If I could go back… be there for her… be here so she wouldn't have to be shipped off to have OUR children on her own at 18!" Antonio was fully ready to throttle this guy.
"I was there for her!" Mike shouted. "I was there for her when she came onto NOPD… I was her partner! I cared for her and those kids… like they were my own."
"They weren't… they never would've been yours."
"Oh, I know… because when I offered her my last name… to give them a dad… she told me no… that she couldn't love me like she loved you!"
Antonio froze. Mike took this opportunity to throw himself at Antonio. He caught Antonio off guard. Antonio took a couple steps back and regained his footing. He brought his right arm back and swung. He caught Mike right in the nose. Mike flew back a good couple of feet and landed on his ass.
"You have a pair of balls on you." Antonio massaged his jaw. "Now, you came… you gave us a hand in this case… you're done. So, you're gonna pack up and headed back to New Orleans. You're gonna leave Chicago in your rear view and you are NEVER, and I mean NEVER going to contact Josie again… you do… I'll sic my father-in-law on you… he's been to prison… he's got plenty of skeletons in his closet… and I sure as fuck don't mind adding you to his list."
Mike stood back up. "You can't tell me…"
"I'm not just telling you… that's an order… here, you've got zero jurisdiction. You know that all Rev's drugs were supplied by the Medellin cartel… your cases are closed and you can go back to your wife and kids."
Mike knew he didn't have much of a choice. He knew he'd been beat. That and Josie had told him that what she and Antonio had was unbreakable. He sighed. "Fine." He wiped the blood from his nose. "But… you ever hurt her… do wrong by her… I don't give a fuck who your father-in-law is… I'll come back… and I'll finish this." He spun on his heel and stormed up the stairs.
Antonio didn't know if he should feel proud or ashamed at this moment but he knew he wasn't about to let someone come between him and his wife. He waited a few minutes before heading upstairs. The lights were out and Mike's rental car was gone from in front of the house. He made his way to the master bedroom. He stopped along the way to check on Grace. She was sound asleep in her crib. He quietly closed the door and continued to the bedroom. He went in. Josie was sitting on the bed, flipping through an old photo album. "Hey." He said, quietly.
"Hey." She whispered.
"Uh… I guess… he told you?"
"He didn't have to… pretty sure your parents were able to hear what was going on downstairs." Josie didn't look up from the album.
"Jo…"
"No, Antonio… I get it… I saw it too…" Josie finally looked up at him. She patted the bed next to her. "We've been back together… almost a year now… and it hasn't necessarily been easy for both of us… or the kids."
Antonio sat down. "I know, Jo… but I've been trying."
"Antonio, I can't ask more of you." Josie leaned her head on his shoulder. "You've been amazing… I've been the one who obviously hasn't been open enough about the last 15 years with you."
"Jo… babe… you don't owe me anything." Antonio brushed her bangs from her eyes. "You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to."
Josie looked up at him and blinked away the tears that had formed in the corners. "You need the truth Antonio. Our relationship can't last if there are lies or half-truths." She handed him the album. "This is the twins' baby album… for the first 5 years… it was me, Mama and them against the world." Josie waited for Antonio to flip through it. She felt her heart hurt as he stopped and touched the pictures of their first steps or their first day of kindergarten. "You didn't get to be a part of this… it wasn't fair to you or them… they needed their daddy… you."
"I would've given anything to be there for this." Antonio's voice cracked. "Jo, I'm sorry… I'm so sorry… I wasn't there…"
"Antonio… this isn't your fault… it never was." Josie sighed. "So… I finished nursing school in those first 3 or 4 years. After that, I worked in OB… but it wasn't me… so I joined the NOPD's Academy. After I graduated, I was… partnered with Mike… we worked up the ranks together. I made Detective in record time. I worked Homicide with him, Vice and some time in Narcotics. Over that time… Mike, well… he became closer to me. He and I dated, but I knew it would never go anywhere. My heart has always belonged to you. When I saw the kids getting too attached to him, I broke it off. By that point, Katrina was bearing down on us and I had to get out." She took a deep breath. "We had a physical relationship, I won't deny that… but I couldn't feel what he felt… what I had felt with you."
Antonio let this sink in. He hadn't thought of her dating or even being in a relationship when she was gone. He had felt guilt for marrying Laura, but he was now trying to imagine the guilt that she had been carrying for the last year.
"After I moved back here, I told him what I had found out about you. I told him that I was staying and that, no matter what… I was alone and I was fine with that." Josie sighed. "We stayed in touch… I went down for his wedding the next year…"
"That must've been awkward." Antonio laughed lightly.
Josie arched an eyebrow. "A little, but I genuinely thought he was happy…"
"He's not?"
Josie shook her head. "I called Moira… his wife… she told me he moved out two weeks ago… that they hadn't been in a real marriage since their youngest was born a little less than a year ago."
"So, around the time… you and I got back together?" Antonio did the mental math.
Josie nodded. "She said that he'd been keeping tabs on me… she didn't think much of it because we used to be partners. But, after he moved out, she found things that suggested he wasn't over me. I didn't want to believe that… but, that's why I wanted you to sort this out… otherwise, I would've called Dad… and…"
"You suspect Mike would be at the bottom of the Chicago River." Antonio concluded.
"Yeah." Josie agreed. "So, thank you… but you really didn't have to bust his nose, did you?"
"He swung at me first." Antonio said in his own defense.
Josie sighed. "Okay… well… We should get some sleep, huh?"
"Why?" Antonio asked in a childlike tone.
"Oh Lord." Josie shook her head. "You've got a big case ahead of you… you gotta get that Pulpo."
"Hmph." Antonio grunted.
"What's that?" Josie asked.
"Uh, well… before we do… you should know I asked Jules to look into Mike."
"I figured as much." Josie replied. "Did she get anything?"
"Not yet… she figured she'd get it by morning." Antonio said.
"Okay… well… will you tell me?"
"Do you wanna know?"
Josie thought about it. "Yeah… I do… because if he's gone off the rails… he needs to be dealt with."
"Are you worried he'd do something."
"I don't know… he spent a lot of time in deep cover… he still has a thing for me… who knows."
Antonio looked at his watch. "It's almost midnight. Voight wants us at the District at 7 am sharp… bright eyed and bushy tailed."
"My dad said that?"
"Well, not in so many words." Antonio smirked.
Josie slapped his chest. "Just give me the album… get some sleep… and get these Cartel guys off our streets."
"I will." Antonio handed her the album, then kissed her deeply. "You still mad at me?"
Josie shook her head. "No. I love you… that won't ever change. You are the only one I want to spend my life with… I've wanted that since I was 17 years old. I've got it now. I'm not about to let you slip away ever again."
"Good." He turned off the light and pulled her in close. "I don't plan on ever letting you go either."
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A/N: So, certain parts of this are direct quotes from Season 1, episode 1 of Chicago PD… they solely belong to the writers and producers of the show. I just needed them to add to the basis of this story line. More to come soon. I know it's a different twist, but this is what the muse led me to. We will see what happens… until then! I'm off to update the Rose. Let me know what you all think! Lots of love! Nicole.