Chapter 10: Car Four
Apartment of Sunny Tran
The Wards
11:00 PM
Detective Sunny Tran was suddenly awakened by the musical ringtone of her cell phone. She promptly shot up out of bed and checked her phone to see who could've possibly been calling her that late at night. She sighed when she noticed the call was from her partner, Detective Troy Harrison, and answered.
"Troy", she said with a very groggy tone, "What's going on?"
"Hey Sunny", Harrison replied from his end of the line, "It sounds like I woke you. I'm sorry to call this late."
Tran held her phone on her shoulder as she scrambled to get dressed expeditiously. "Don't worry about it", she said, "I'm on call tonight anyway."
"Have you seen the news?" Harrison asked, "About the murders and the blackout at May Stadium?"
With that, Tran grabbed her TV remote off the nightstand and turned on her flat screen TV, tuning it to the local WKZ news station. "No", she replied as she glanced at her alarm clock, "I've been asleep for the last four hours or so. Hang on."
WKZ News nighttime field reporter Richard Head was on screen. Head was a very smug-looking white man with very obviously artificially tanned skin who was dressed in a very dull beige trench coat. He began speaking as soon as he was prompted by the anchor reporter.
"Thank you, David and Barbara", he said, referring to the two nighttime anchor reporters, "It's a scene of utter confusion and chaos here at Parker Square's iconic May Stadium tonight as Chicago Police are struggling with not only a sudden power outage but also several apparent murders which occurred on the premises sometime this evening. Police on the scene are remaining tight-lipped about any details at this time, but sources tell me that there was an unusually heavy police presence here at the stadium tonight. More details to follow in the morning. For WKZ Nightly News, this is Richard Head reporting live. Back to you in the studio."
With that, Tran clicked off her TV, pulled on a pair of blue jeans, and draped a brown button-down sweater over the white cotton tank top she was wearing, all the while still holding the phone on her shoulder. "Holy shit", Tran said, "Exactly how much is 'several murders'?"
"Abby and I just happened to be here at the ballgame when we heard a call about a Code Five-Eddie go out over the zone", Harrison explained, "We went downstairs and found seven bodies all laid out in a corridor. Personnel from the Thirty-First District and the Ivory Tower are all up and through this damn stadium now."
"The news said that the power went out too, huh?" Tran asked.
Harrison scoffed. "Yeah", he said with a very exasperated tone in his voice, "the technicians at the power company determined that it was some sort of technological breach. In other words, the entire portion of the power grid suppling Parker Square was somehow hacked."
"Do you have any idea who could've done something like that?" Tran asked.
"Not offhand", Harrison replied, "But the CtOS Task Force has been put on a crisis alert. Doctor Bartholomew and the team are looking into things now. I actually need a favor from you if you don't mind, Sunny."
"I'm your partner, Troy", Tran said reassuringly, "Don't ever be afraid to ask me for help. What do you need?"
"Abby and I think there's some shady shit going down here", Harrison admitted, "I mean, more than seven dead gangbangers and a power outage. It might not be the best idea to meet up at the district. Do you know a place that's private but still spacious enough for us to meet up and go over things?"
"Yeah", Tran said, "I still have a key to my parents' restaurant and bakery in Chinatown. They have a back room that they use for staff meetings. I'd have to call my dad and ask for permission, but it shouldn't be an issue. It's called Tran Lotus Restaurant and Bakery."
"Cool", Harrison said, "Call Voight, Olinsky, our squad, Lieutenant Broussard, and Commander Brooks if you could. We need all available hands, and Abby's here with me now, so we'll meet you there in an hour. And please apologize to your folks on my behalf for waking them up this late."
"No problem", Tran said, "See you then."
"Thanks, Sunny" Harrison said, "I owe you big time."
Tran Lotus Restaurant and Bakery
Chinatown
1 Hour Later
Harrison and Asher arrived at the Tran Family's modest storefront restaurant and bakery in Chinatown, only to be met by the presence of a large metal security gate and a "CLOSED" sign on the door. Asher saw a doorbell next to the gated entrance and pressed the button. A loud beeping sound was heard and promptly followed by a man's voice coming from the small speaker above the bell.
"Are you Chicago Police?" the accented male voice said through the speaker.
Harrison nodded his head in the direction of the camera once he noticed it, at which point Asher took her badge from her pocket and displayed it in front of the camera. "Yes sir", she said, "I'm Detective Asher and this gentleman here with me is Detective Harrison." Harrison followed suit and held up his own badge to the camera.
"Mister Tran I presume?" Harrison asked, "Your daughter Sunny is my partner. She asked us to meet her here."
The metal security gate was soon raised. Bao Tran stood behind it, still holding the large wooden pole he used to move the gate. Mr. Tran was a short Vietnamese man appearing to be in his mid-sixties with balding gray hair and coke bottle glasses. He was still dressed in his plaid pajamas.
"Mister Tran?" Harrison inquired once more.
Bao Tran politely extended a hand. "Yes", he said, "I'm Bao Tran. It's a great pleasure to meet the both of you, Detectives. My daughter speaks highly of the both of you."
Harrison reciprocated the man's gesture. "Troy Harrison, sir", he said, "And the pleasure is all mine."
Asher then took her turn shaking the man's hand. "Hi Mister Tran", she said, "I'm Abby Asher. So nice to finally meet you."
"Please come in", Mr. Tran said as he stepped back inside the bakery, letting the detectives make their way in behind him. "The other police officers are already here", he said, "Sunny opened the alleyway entrance door for them. Plus, two other gentlemen just arrived. One of them is wearing an FBI jacket."
"They would be my colleagues from the task force I work with", Harrison said, "I hope that all of us meeting here at such a late an hour isn't too much of an imposition for you or your wife."
"Oh", Mr. Tran said, "Don't be silly, Detective. My wife is already serving them breakfast and coffee in the back room."
Mr. Tran ushered the two detectives through his main bakery and dining room area, through the kitchen, and into the back room. Asher and Harrison were surprised to see everyone that they had summoned seated around a long folding table taking up the entire center of the back room. Tham Tran, Bao Tran's wife and Sunny's mother, worked her way around the table, serving each person Styrofoam cups of coffee and plates of Vietnamese rice rolls.
Mrs. Tran was a very kindly woman of medium height, also in her mid-sixties, with very striking dark hair. She was always sporting her finest makeup, jewelry and clothes, no matter what time of the day or night it was. On this evening, she was dressed in a very proper-looking flowered blouse with a light-colored skirt and pink house shoes.
Seated at the table were Captain Broussard, Detectives Dobbs and Brooks, Commander Darren Brooks, Detectives Voight and Olinsky, CtOS Task Force members Agent McCain and Dr. Bartholomew, and Detective Machado. Seated beside him was a short-haired blonde woman Harrison didn't immediately recognize, someone appearing to be close in age to his captain who was dressed in a navy-blue sweater and blue jeans, sporting a CPD Lieutenant's badge on a chain around her neck.
"Ah Detectives", Captain Broussard said as he noticed Harrison and Asher's entrance, "We've been waiting on you." He motioned across to the table to the sweater-clad Lieutenant. "Detective Harrison, this is my wife, Lieutenant Kathy Broussard. She's in charge of Narcotics."
Harrison went over and shook the Lieutenant's hand graciously. "Nice to meet you, Lieutenant", he said, "Abby and Ernie have told me good things about you."
Lieutenant Broussard reciprocated Harrison's gesture, shaking his hand just as firmly. "Abby and my husband have spoken just as highly of you, Detective. It's nice to meet you as well."
After Harrison and Asher took their own seats at the table, Detective Tran motioned to her mother. "Detectives Harrison and Asher", she said, "I'd like you to meet my mother, Tham Tran". She then motioned back from her mother to Harrison. "Mama", she said, "This is my new partner, Troy Harrison, and Abby Asher from the Narcotics Unit."
Mrs. Tran came over and shook Harrison's hand before repeating the gesture with Asher. "It's very nice to meet you both", she said, "My daughter speaks very highly of you."
With all the pleasantries now out of the way, the Trans left the room and closed the door behind them. "Okay", Harrison began, "I appreciate everyone being able to be here at this late hour. I assume everybody's met Doctor Neal Bartholomew and Special Agent Dean McCain from the CtOS Task Force, right?"
Nine out of the ten people seated at the table nodded affirmatively before Asher spoke up. "I haven't", she said as she waved to Bartholomew and McCain, "Detective Abby Asher, CPD Narcotics. Nice to meet you guys."
"The pleasure's all ours, Detective", McCain replied.
Harrison briefly chuckled before clearing his throat. "Could you guys please take the floor and explain things for all of us, please?" he asked.
Dr. Bartholomew and Agent McCain stepped to the head of the table at the front of the room. A laptop and high-definition TV monitor were set up so everyone could see what was shown on the laptop. Agent McCain typed and clicked a few things, and when Bartholomew turned on the monitor, a digital map of the Parker Square power grid was viewed on the screen. The areas affected by the temporary power outage were shaded in red.
"At approximately Eight-Thirty this evening", Bartholomew began explaining, "The troubleshooters at the power company registered a critical outage alert on the Parker Square power grid, specifically the immediate area around May Stadium. This, in turn, alerted us at the CtOS Task Force and we immediately began inquiring into the incident, believing it to be a possibly intentional cyber intrusion and attack."
"As you all know", McCain chimed in, "The outage lasted approximately five minutes before power was restored to full capacity. However, our analysts at CtOS did discover that this was not just a simple electrical surge or glitch. However brief, this outage was indeed the result of a deliberate cyber intrusion."
"Made from where?" Captain Broussard asked.
"We originally believed that someone tried to either hack in to the neighborhood power station remotely", Bartholomew elaborated, "Or hack in directly from inside the power station itself. My own analysis determined that the former scenario was the correct one. Somebody was able to breach the power station, and subsequently the grid control, using a pay-as-you-go burner phone and May Stadium's free Wi-Fi signal."
"Wait a minute", Hank Voight said, "You're telling us that some hacker guy was able to temporarily shut off the power in an entire neighborhood with just a burner phone and some free goddamn Wi-Fi? Unbelievable."
"Were you able to determine who it was that caused the outage?" Alvin Olinsky asked.
Agent McCain sighed deeply before answering. "That's the thing, Detective", he said, "After the power came back on, we immediately starting mapping out the cellular tower data for everybody in and around the stadium. There were approximately Forty-Two-Thousand active cell phones inside the stadium premises before the power went out. When it was restored, there were Forty-One-Thousand-Nine Hundred-Ninety-Nine."
"So, you guys think that the odd cell phone out is our burner", Harrison said, "and by default, our hacker?"
"Correct", Bartholomew said, "We were able to get the number for that specific phone from the data that presented before the outage. Unfortunately, when we ran the number, it just came back to a batch of burner phones sold at a gas station in Parker Square. That's probably where our suspect bought it, so we have a pending warrant request for their surveillance footage."
"I understand the importance of all this", Voight said as he turned to Harrison, "But why are we all here this late at night, Troy? What's with the cloak-and-dagger routine?"
"That's another thing, Hank", Harrison replied frankly before turning to Bartholomew and McCain. "May I?" he asked as he motioned to where the two men stood.
Bartholomew and McCain nodded and politely stepped aside. Harrison stepped to the front of the room to address everyone as a whole. "As I'm sure you all know by now", he began, "Just before the power went out, a Code Five-Eddie call went out over the Citywide channel reporting a disturbance at the stadium. Abby and I were already there watching the game, so we took it upon ourselves to personally respond. We found the bodies of seven gang members in a lower-level corridor as well as evidence of a brutal assault in the White Sox locker room. Based on their tattoos, all the of the deceased appear to have been members of the Black Viceroys."
"Troy called Al and I in to help him and Abby work the scene", Voight added, "Our unit's been investigating the Viceroys for the last month or so. All the victims were Hispanic males in their late teens to early twenties. By all accounts, they represented a Viceroys set based in The Wards. Four were apparently shot with a nine-millimeter handgun while the other three were stabbed in either the chest or the gut, rather efficiently according to the Medical Examiner."
"So", Commander Brooks chimed in, "Some professional assassin is keeping a live hostage inside the locker room. He apparently beats the hell out of him before being intercepted somehow by our Black Viceroys. The assassin goes on the defensive and takes them all out with both a knife and a gun before taking his hostage and blowing that pop stand. So, is our hacker also the assassin? Or were there two separate people there in addition to the hostage?"
"Any progress identifying the potential hostage?" Lieutenant Broussard asked.
Detective Brooks grabbed a file folder from the center of the table and pulled it toward himself. "I have those lab results right here, ma'am", he replied as he opened the folder and scanned the results. He then got a very surprised look on his face. "Oh my God", he exclaimed before looking to Captain Broussard and his father, Commander Brooks.
"What's wrong, son?" Commander Brooks asked.
"Dad", Detective Brooks said, "You remember Maurice Vega? That suspect we've been looking for in connection with the Maxwell King murder?"
"The dead drug dealer who lived above the pawn shop", Commander Brooks recounted, "Yeah."
"According to this", Detective Brooks replied, "Maurice Vega's blood, hair, and saliva were all over that locker room. He's the hostage."
"And Vega did associate with the Viceroys", Captain Broussard said, "so I guess the theory now is, Vega put out a distress call to the Viceroys and they came to save him only to be taken out by our assassin."
"I think there's more to this equation, Captain", Asher chimed in, "And I think that's what Troy's been trying to get to this whole time. When we called for backup after discovering what went down in that corridor, some of the CPD brass from the Ivory Tower responded awfully fast along with Lieutenant Henderson and Officer DeYoung from the Thirty-First."
"Which brass are we talking about?" Lieutenant Broussard asked.
"Lieutenant Forsberg, Sergeant Goodwin and Officer Milne", Asher replied.
"So, you're telling us that a who's-who of Ivory Tower command staff was already there before you guys even put out the call?" Dobbs asked.
"It looks that way, Dobbs", Asher said, "We thought at first that First Deputy Superintendent Barron was on scene too and that they were just tagging along, but Lieutenant Henderson said that he saw no sign of the First Deputy the entire time he was holding down the scene."
"Did you guys see him at all while you were there?" Captain Broussard asked.
"No sir", Harrison replied, "In fact, Lieutenant Henderson confided his suspicions to Abby and I about seeing Forsberg, Goodwin, and Milne talking to Joseph DeMarco just before we came up to the VIP area."
"Joseph DeMarco?" Olinsky asked, "That weird hipster artist guy who took over that old theater?"
"Yeah", Harrison replied, "Henderson told us that the folks at Organized Crime are looking at him because of a rumored connection to the Chicago South Club."
An idea then struck Harrison. "Hang on a second", he said before turning to Agent McCain. "Dean? Can you pull up CtOS camera footage from the parking areas at May Stadium? Concentrate on about forty-five minutes before that initial radio call went out."
"Yeah", McCain said as he acquired the desired footage, which in turn was shown on the monitor for everyone to see. He noted the presence of a black 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe LTZ SUV on the footage, positioned in the parking lot that would allow the easiest eventual ingress to the VIP area. As the footage showed, the vehicle had arrived at exactly 7:10 PM that night. A man in a white CPD uniform exited the vehicle's backseat and made his way inside the closest rear entrance. The vehicle and its driver stayed put inside the car for approximately 45 minutes. At 7:55 PM, the uniformed officer exited into the parking lot and reentered the Tahoe, at which the vehicle drove off into the night.
"Can you get a read on a license plate for us?" Harrison asked.
McCain rewound the footage and magnified the Tahoe's rear license plate, resulting in a crystal-clear image of the plate number. "Chicago Police plates", he said, "Mary-Paul-Two-Eight-Nine." He then opened another tab and ran the plate number. "It's registered to a Chevy Tahoe assigned as the work vehicle of First Deputy Superintendent of Police Walter Barron."
"So, what does all this mean?" Lieutenant Broussard asked.
"I think there are two situations rolled up into one here, guys", Commander Brooks said, "I'm going to call a meeting with the Superintendent at the Ivory Tower tomorrow and see if I can get an explanation about Barron." He then turned to Captain Broussard and his wife. "John, Kathy", he continued, "I want your squads working together on the stadium murders and the kidnapping. I'll square things with the Thirty-First District."
The commander then turned to Voight and Olinsky. "Ron Perry's your Commander at the Twenty-First, right?" he asked.
"Yeah", Voight replied.
"I want you guys to fill him in about the stadium incidents first thing tomorrow", Commander Brooks said, "But leave the First Deputy out of it for now. I don't want things stirred up in case Barron's in the clear. Until we know the whole story, I want you all to remain tight-lipped to anyone at CPD about his presence there that night."
Everyone nodded in response to the Commander's order. Whether they liked it or not, things could possibly become quite rocky for all of them.
