Hello everyone,
An update after years, I know. But honestly, I didn't know what I was doing when I started this. But after a few reviews I received, this abandoned fic picked up my attention again. So thank you to all those who reviewed and urged me to continue this. You're encouragement is precious to me. I know there are embarrassing mistakes in the previous chapters, but I didn't go about correcting them. I'll do it in a future date when I'm more free. For now, I hope to update this every Sunday and I hope you'll enjoy this. I'll be thrilled to hear what you have to say.
CHAPTER 12
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Trailing behind the CI's truck was uneventful to the team's liking. The truck was moving slowly as if it was moving on glass, way behind the allowed speed limit although the streets were almost empty. This made the trailing difficult, it wasn't the 'fast and Furious' chase they usually had to do and thus stealth aspect was proving harder than usual. Voight glances at Al when he hits the dashboard letting out his frustration. It was a rare display of emotions coming from him at a rate intense than he would usually display. But given the situation, Voight concluded Al was only human, and underneath their detective personalities, Jay and Al held hands as military comrades.
"He's not picking up," Al answered the unasked question. He had been trying for the past twenty or so minutes to contact his top level military friend with no success.
Voight nodded in understanding. Nothing has gone the way they expected ever since Jay's M.I.A notice came in, he couldn't expect any better now. Trying to bring in some hope to the situation, Voight grabbed his friend's shoulder with his free hand, "We'll try again, until he picks up."
Al sighs, takes a breath and then nods.
Voight wouldn't admit it aloud, but the fact that the future of this city was inside the truck moving ahead of them, Jay probably being inside it and on top of everything Erin being missing, had shaken him to the core. He accidentally stepped on the gas a couple of times only to be corrected by Mouse in the backseat taking away his frustration at the key board. They were the only vehicle following the truck in the same path while others were taking alternate routes blocking any deviations though so far the truck had showed no sign of a hurry.
"Stop" he heard Mouse say and he slowly pulled the car to the side of the road.
"It's heading to an abandoned area, we can't follow the truck there, we'll be fully exposed," Mouse mumbles. "The road ahead leads to an area abandoned due to flooding when they created Chicago Sanitary District in 1889. There is nothing but old buildings and shitty roads there. They could hide anywhere, but we can't follow them because nobody has a reason to go there unless you have a weapon to hide."
"Okay." Voight said taking in the facts. Al was already radioing the others to converge at their point. "What's our way in?"
"There is a tourist boat service nearby, we can take a boat down the stream in parallel to the truck's path."
"How do you know?" Al asked bored, tucking away his phone for the umpteenth time.
"There is this thing called internet." Mouse dead panned showing his screen full of Google-map results. Tourist boats are common enough in the river so we won't be made by the sound. We can walk the rest of the distance in to the land are."
"Okay" Voight said after much thought, having run the plan in his head and seemingly satisfied. "Who is closest to the boat service?"
Ruzek had a very nice grandfather, someone who always volunteered to baby sit him when he was little, a 'bought him every toy his parents rejected-sneaked in sweets behind his parents'- kind of nice grandfather. His perception on grandfathers was based on that experience. But when he knocked on the office of the boat service at 5.a.m in the morning, he was introduced to a very different type of a grandfathers that twisted his beliefs.
The grandfather who answered the door was pissed off to begin with. He did look his part and was even more pissed off when Ruzek introduced him as a police officer. Sensing a true police hater, Ruzek mustered up all the respect he could in his voice and explained that they needed 'a speed boat at his earliest possible please'. Atwater was fidgeting beside him because they were supposed to be quick. Now the old guy was demanding explanations to why the police needed a speed boat at 5 a.m. and Ruzek was struggling with his answer.
The old man did not buy what Ruzek said, and glared at the two men but moved across the hall in turtle speed after a delay. He turned his back and signed Ruzek and Atwater to follow him. The visitor's room opened in to a deck that held five speed boats decked neatly in a row.
"Oh! How fun? They are yellow." Atwater chirped. "Talk about being covert!"
Ruzek observed when the old man switched on the deck lights. The boats were indeed yellow, a shade of yellow as bright as day, they'll standout like a peacock among crows even in the dark."Beggars can't be choosers."
Atwater raised his eyebrow a notch up at Ruzek's optimism.
After fishing his pockets for a key, the old man opened a door to a small room at the corner of the deck that looked like the office. More rustling sounds and curses ensued and nothing came out of the office for a full minute.
Voight's voice came through the radio, "Ruzek, are you ready?"
Ruzek jumped at the sound, and contemplated what to say without pissing off the other grandfather on the radio. "Almost," he replied.
Voight barked. "Well, Get the engine started"
"How does he know if I can ride a boat?" Ruzek asked turning off the radio. Kevin who was now on his toes to peer in to the office to see what is happening shrugged.
"Brother, I'm pretty sure Hank Voight could have recited your full bio by heart, the moment you stepped in to the intelligence." Atwater said not moving his eyes from the old man.
"Yeah, I bet he could." Ruzek said knocking on the door. "I don't like this, he's taking too much time."
But the old man came out with a key and a look. Before he handed it to Ruzek, he stretched his palm at him. "Police business or not, I want my fee, or no key."
Ruzek contemplated knocking the man out and taking the key. His thoughts must have reflected on his face for Atwater gave him a warning look and pulled out his wallet, placing a few bills on the man's upturned palm. Ruzek respectfully snatched the key out of his hold.
When Voight and the rest of the team arrived, Ruzek stood proud with the already started all got in, giving Ruzek the looks they would give a five year old who was just handed a new toy as they crammed inside the boat. Al and Antonio stocked the long guns in to the boat while the old man stood stock stilled.
It took only a few minutes in to the ride for Mouse to convey his concerns."Be careful man, you might hit the bank. This isn't your X-box." Mouse was holding to his laptop dearly, only to receive a dead look from Ruzek who's been showing off his boat riding skills. "Don't take your eyes off the river, it's almost zero visibility already." Mouse warns again, and the team, holding on to whatever solid thing that could make sure they won't fly on to the river, tries to suppress their amusement because they really shouldn't be enjoying anything at this situation; there was Jay, a weapon that could take out a city, and there was Erin.
Morning wind swept by, the cold attacked them mercilessly, but it wasn't able to dampen the spirit of the team. With mouse's directions, Ruzek slowed down the boat and stopped it close to the bank after another few minutes. They all got out, jumping in to cold-as-glacier shallow water because the boat couldn't reach the absolute bank, their guns hung on their shoulders. Once they are all on the ground, Voight converged the team.
Mouse showed them the GPS map of the surrounding area. "Here is the truck, we have to walk about three hundred meters in to the land."
The team set out through thick bushes and trees. The cold damp leaves made them wet, reminding them they were only ready for a wild truck chase in the road, instead, they were surviving an abandoned city in a pitch black dawn. 'Absolutely no lights,' had been Voight's last instruction, so it's a real struggle to move as stealthily as possible, in total darkness, while also trying to not trip and fall. A few meters in to the land they meet a strip of land that was more clear than what they faced so far, Mouse explains it used to be a road. Obviously, following the road would be to give away their presence to any spying party, so they again started walking inland through the area that is crowded with tall grown weed, displaced trees, ruined old buildings and everything that could possibly block their way. They still moved considerably fast, bumping in to trees, tripping over ruins and quietly cursing while holding dear to their weapons.
Ahead of them, a tall structure looms. They crouch behind bushes. The river flows nearby taking a turn.
"So, we walked this far through the jungle while the river is this close?" Ruzek complains.
"Coming this close will be announcing our arrival," Antonio provides while Ruzek feigns annoyance, "I know Antonio, I'm not a kid." He says. "I'm just saying, I feel lucky already."
Voight shakes his head. "We're here for the city of Chicago and our own."
"I just hate bugs is all I'm saying."
Antonio huffed and dragged Ruzek down to sit. They make a small circle around Mouse covering up the light emanating from the laptop, even at a low screen illumination, it's still a laptop screen that glimmer in the dark.
"The truck is parked on the other side of this building." He then smacked his forehead.
"Bugs bugging you too?" Ruzek asked.
Mouse shook his head. "No, dude, didn't the guy in Chicago med say 'prison' to Will?"
"He did."
"Well, this building used to be a prison, in eighteen hundreds. They abandoned it when the sanitary district was created."
"No shit, you kidding me?"Ruzek snapped, but Voight sighed heavily. "We are on the right track then." He says. "Is there any way we can get information on the the building?"
Mouse silently worked on his precious laptop for a minute or two, then shows the screen for everyone to see. "Here is the map of the prison, digitized version from the library. Truck is parked here."
They all stared at it for a full minute, knowing well that Mouse broke a law or two obtaining the map at this hour. And the map stared back at them in its full glory, so vast they didn't know how on earth to cover the whole building in the most efficient manner, where Jay might be, where the weapon could be and how on earth the few of them could cover a building this big.
Voight cleared his throat, but before he started giving away instructions, a gunshot could be heard from the distance, then two more shots followed, and a woman wailed 'Jaaaayyyy' so high-pitched it ran a chill down their spines.
They all knew that voice, there was no more need for instructions to bring them to their feet.