"51 Autos. Stupid name for a repair shop," Kevin Atwater said as he parked up across the street from the place.
"I don't give a fuck what it's called, I just want to know if Boden's there," Ruzek said from the car's passenger seat. Looking in the mirror on his side, he saw the car containing Voight and Halstead pulling up behind them. "Right, let's go."
All four men got out and walked straight across the street, making their way between slow moving traffic. No one needed to seek instruction from the boss. They all knew that he was going to walk right in and demand to see Boden. They were there to provide backup in case things went south. Or, more accurately, to remove the possibility of things going south.
The auto repair shop's roller shutter door was open. Two cars were inside, both being worked on by mechanics. Much like Ruzek's crew, these mechanics worked legitimately by day, but when they weren't working they were involved in The 51's less legal activities. None of that deterred Ruzek, who confidently walked in.
"Is Boden here?" the boss demanded of the first mechanic he encountered, a man he happened to recognise.
The mechanic took his attention off the engine he was working on and look at the four men who had walked in. "Who's asking?"
"Don't fuck me around, Cruz," Ruzek said impatiently, knowing full well that they had been recognised. "Is he here or not?"
"No, he's not here."
Ruzek walked past Cruz, heading for the office area at the back of the building. The other three flanked him. "Oh yeah? Maybe I'll go check for myself. You'd better not be lying to me."
"He's out," Cruz insisted, hurrying after them and getting in the way. Several other mechanics came over to join him.
"The boss is going to be out all day. What do you want?" a man named Matt Casey demanded of them.
"I want to talk him. And it's going to be in his best interest that I do that. You should get a message to him and tell him to meet me at the bar this evening, 8pm." Ruzek didn't need to mention the name of the bar he owned, The Friendly Tap. Boden's people would already be well aware of it.
"And if he doesn't?" Casey replied.
"Then we're going to have a problem," Ruzek said with frankness that should have worried the man he was addressing.
"We'll pass on your request," Casey said.
Ruzek didn't rise to the bait, saying nothing about his demand being called a request. "Make sure you do that."
With that, Ruzek turned and led his men from the shop.
"What now?" Voight asked once they were back out in the street.
"Now? We go back to our day jobs. Then tonight we see what Boden has to say. For now, he's the one in the frame for Antonio. Let's see what he has to say for himself before we take any other action."
Everyone who worked for Adam Ruzek, and even Ruzek himself, had a regular job. The main reason was to offer a legitimate source of income for any police investigation into their activities or finances. In Jay Halstead's case, his job was manager of The Friendly Tap. Although he would have preferred to be out continuing to look for leads on Antonio Dawson's murder, Ruzek had said back to work, so that was where he was.
Lindsay and Atwater were there too, working their jobs as bartenders, much to their annoyance. They all wanted answers and retribution right away. But Ruzek knew best. First would come the talk with Boden, then there would be whatever course of action resulted from it.
Ruzek and Voight would be over to the bar soon, after putting in a few hours at the food processing plant that was the main source of legitimate Ruzek income. It was also the site of the extremely well hidden underground meth lab that produced the decidedly illegitimate income.
"Oh, great. It's your best friend," Atwater said while walking past Halstead as they both served customers.
Halstead looked in the direction of the entrance and sighed. He wasn't particularly surprised by what, or rather who, he saw, but it still annoyed him.
"Hello, Jay. Not very busy in here, is it?"
"Hello, Detective Upton. It's the middle of the afternoon. How busy do you expect it to be? Guess I can assume you're not here for a drink?"
"I'll have an orange juice."
"And I'll have a whisky," Upton's partner said, joining her at the bar.
"Drinking on duty, Detective Olinsky?" Halstead asked.
"Just fix the drinks," Olinsky said in his usual unemotional manner.
"Ten dollars," Halstead said.
"Ten bucks for an orange juice and a shot of whisky?" Upton asked, eyebrows raised.
"Special customers get special prices," Halstead took pleasure in saying. He turned his back on the detectives and started fixing the drinks.
"Mind telling me where you were last night between 10pm and 2am?" Upton asked.
Now we're getting down to business, Halstead thought. At least he had an answer he could take pleasure in giving. "Between 10 and 2? Here, first, then at home."
"Can anyone verify that?"
"Yep, Erin can. She was with me the whole time," Halstead said, looking down the bar towards his girlfriend, who was polishing glasses while looking at Upton with a glare that stood half a change of turning her to stone. They all knew Upton had something of a fixation with Ruzek and everyone who worked for him. She was always on the lookout for something to bust one of them for, although she continued to fail in her endeavour. Seeing Halstead look at her, Lindsay started to walk towards them.
"What about you? 10pm to 2am last night?" Upton called to Atwater.
"I worked last night, too. Then I went home. My neighbour was sitting for my little brother, so she can verify that. Anyway, you really think it was one of us who killed Antonio? That's low, even for you. That's why you're here, right?"
I'm investigating. That's my job," Upton said as Halstead put the overpriced drinks on the bar. "And right now? There are three people behind that bar who are near the top of my suspect list. You were with Jay all of last night?" she asked of Lindsay.
"All night. First here at work, then at my place. So how about you stop harassing us and start finding who killed our friend?"
"That's the question, isn't it?" Olinsky said quietly after downing his whisky in one hit. "Who killed your friend? Of course, there's also another question. Why would someone want to break into the house of a regular bartender, shoot him in the back of the head, and leave without stealing anything?"
"You're supposed to be the detectives, not us," Atwater said.
"Yes, we are," Upton said. She put a ten dollar bill on the bar. "And we're watching all of your asses. You're going to make a mistake, somewhere, sometime. And when you do, I'm going to be there."
"Next time I break a glass, I'll let you know," Lindsay said sarcastically. "Maybe it'll get you on Channel 9 News."
Upton drank some of her orange juice and left the bottle on the bar. "I'll see you around."
With that, the two detectives walked out of the bar. Halstead waited until they were gone to look at Lindsay and Atwater. He saw that Atwater had gone back to serving a customer, whereas Lindsay had a murderous look in her eyes.
"One day, I want to meet that bitch in a dark alley," she snarled.
Halstead put a hand on her shoulder. "Calm down, Er. She's doing what she always does. She's fishing."
"Yeah? Well one day she might just catch something she doesn't like."
Kim Burgess felt like she was living in some kind of alternate reality. The so-called guest room that Mr Ruzek's housekeeper had assigned her to was bigger than the living room in her house. And on top of that it had its own bathroom and a walk-in wardrobe. This was luxury above anything she had encountered from her humble beginnings, through to her current burgeoning career as a meth cook.
The luxury she could appreciate, but this still was not her home. It was someone else's, and she felt totally out of place in it. The only thing she could do to try and change that was to arrange the clothes she had hurriedly packed at home in the walk-in. She had no way to tell how long she would need to live at the Ruzek house before it was safe to return to normal, so she thought it best to consider it indefinite until she heard otherwise.
"How are you settling in?"
Ruzek's voice behind her made Burgess jump and quickly turn around. He was standing there in the walk-in's doorway, with a little smile on his face that made her feel funny inside.
"Oh, Mr... Adam. I didn't hear you come in."
"I can move quietly when I want to," he said, his smile broadening.
Lord help me, Burgess thought, feeling weak just looking at him. She didn't know why there was suddenly such energy between them now since it wasn't the first time they had met, but she wasn't going to fight what she was feeling.
"I asked a question," he reminded her gently after a moment that seemed to last forever. It startled Burgess again because she realised what an idiot she must have been making of herself, standing there gawping at him and not replying.
"I'm settling in fine, thank you."
"Is there anything else you need?"
"No, thank you."
Ruzek stepped towards her and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Looking up into his eyes, she felt like electricity was flowing through her. He could have done whatever he wanted to her in that moment and she would have been more than okay with it, no matter what it was.
"Relax, Kim. You're at home here, you're not part of the staff. I have to go out for an hour or two. I've got some business to take care of. But when I get back, I'd like you to join me for dinner."
"Okay," Burgess said meekly, wishing she had the courage to tell him to fuck her afterwards. Because that was what she wanted. In fact it was what she craved. But how could she even think that? As if Mr Ruzek would ever be interested in her. That was stupidity beyond description, she told herself with resignation.
"Okay, good. I'll call Vanessa when I'm on my way home, and have her let you know so you can get ready."
"I'll look forward to it," she replied. As he left, she began to panic. She needed something sexy to wear. But had she brought anything like that with her? And would he even notice if she did show herself off a bit? It seemed highly unlikely.
A/N: Next time, the meeting with Boden, and some Linstead. How do you think the meeting will go? And will Erin be able to unwind after seeing Detective Upton, who we learned gets right under her skin?