Chapter Ninety One: Army of Angels

Through the flames and the fire I will go
'Cause I know, yeah, I know that I'm not alone

The Script - Army of Angels

Jack Cooper didn't look much like his brother, Burgess thought as she stared at the picture of their suspect on the white board. His ash blond hair was slicked back past his ears, flicking out at the nape of his neck. His hazel eyes were vacant as he stared back at her with a menacing gaze. The image was a mug shot they had pulled from an older case file when Jack had been busted for fraud, he'd done a couple of years in Statesville before getting out and disappearing off the grid.

There was no doubt in Kim's mind that this was the guy who had snatched their friends and shot Kayla. She had been downstairs when Platt had told him that Antonio wasn't available. It was like his world exploded and he had converted from a mild mannered pedestrian to an aggressive troublemaker. The sudden change in persona had been surprised them all, his entire demeanor was quivering with rage as he demanded an audience with Antonio. He had backed off when Platt had threatened to arrest him, slinking off back the way he had come with a snarl on his lips. They had put it down to the trauma he had suffered due to his brother's death, grief had a way with twisting someone up inside. None of them had thought for a moment that it would spiral into this.

Her thoughts drifted to Gabe, sitting there in the Intelligence Squad breakroom, struggling valiantly to hold himself together. While she was missing friends, he was losing a sister and she felt for him more than anyone in this department. Maggie was the only family he had left, he had practically raised her when their father had gone off the reservation after their mother had died and was fiercely proud of her accomplishments. Kim remembered what it felt like standing next to him on the concrete pavings stones beside him as they did their best to paint over the bold black graffiti that covered the wall of the church hall with the pail of white paint.

Occasionally their hips had bumped as they worked closely together, the conversation flowing easily between them, he had told her that day how he'd considered leaving the priesthood after Maggie had returned from undercover. He had seen that she was struggling, coming out of that life hadn't been easy and he'd been willing to dedicate himself to making sure she got healthy again. He was lucky, he thought, that Antonio had taken up some of the slack. The bond that the two of them had was unrivaled and the other man had been able to help Maggie in ways that Gabe couldn't. Gabe appreciated that more than he could ever say, Maggie had seemed to find her place in the world after that. She didn't care about raising through the ranks, she was happy where she was on patrol meeting people and helping the community where she could. He implied that their father had been part of her motivation to excel to Detective the first time, he was glad she'd managed to get over that hurdle and do what she wanted with her life, instead of honoring the old man's ghost.

There was a look on his face when Gabe talked about his father, one that didn't sit well with Kim. She had heard stories about him during her time in patrol, some good and some bad but they were cop stories, ones about the cases he worked or his conquests. Nobody could deny Bart O'Neill had been a good cop, he had got the job done but she'd learned that he was a shitty family man. She hadn't realised how much until she had accidentally walked in on Gabe changing his shirt in his tiny office and seen the vibrant, pink ridged scars that covered his back. She'd seen enough abuse cases over her years in patrol to know that a belt buckle could do to a person's skin but she couldn't help but gasp when she saw them.

"I'm sorry." she erupted flustered, as a bright red flush formed upon her cheeks. Despite the scars he had a great body, his back and shoulders were toned, the muscles firm. She shifted uncomfortably at the thought of what it would feel like to run her fingertips over them.

"It's fine." Gabe said calmly, drawing his white shirt down over his body, shielding his damaged flesh away from her preying gaze before he turned to face her. "I got them along time ago."

"Your father?" the words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. Gabe froze, his expression one of panic before his Adam's apple bobbed and he crossed his arms over his chest decisively.

"You can't tell Maggie." he told her forcefully, tilting his head away to avoid Kim's inquisitive gaze.

There was shame there, she could see it in his body language as he shirked away from her. It hurt her to see him like this, he was such a good person he didn't deserve to feel humiliated by the sins of the man he shared blood with. Kim didn't know what possessed her to step forward but she did. Her small hand came to rest on Gabe's forearm drawing his attention back towards her. He met her gaze with unreadable cobalt blue eyes, his muscles unfurling under her gentle touch.

"I was the disappointment." Gabe found himself explaining. "It was his way of toughening me up."

"He was wrong." Kim told him honestly, her stare never wavering as she squeezed his arm kindly. "You are far from disappointing."

She had meant every word of it.

"Our suspect is Jack Cooper." Voight began, breaking Kim out of her reverie. She moved to the opposite side of the whiteboard, scooping up her pocketbook as she did. "Brother of Paul Cooper, the guy Antonio put in jail after that undercover operation for Narcotics. Cooper was supposed to roll on the suppliers, Stone gave him the weekend to consider the offer or face doing some serious time."

Voight paused for a moment allowing that information to sink into the minds of his tea before continuing the narrative.

"By Sunday morning Cooper was dead. The ME's report said he had been tortured before he was strung up to make it look like a suicide. At the time Antonio and Stone believed that a member of the investigation team had leaked the information to the suppliers that Paul was going to roll. Jimmy Vega was arrested earlier today, along with the guard he paid to deliver the hit."

"The people we spoke to told us that Jack blamed Antonio for his brother Paul's death." Kim continued after Voight tipped his head towards her. "Apparently Paul put a lot of faith in Antonio's undercover alias Mike Diaz, there wasn't anything he wouldn't do for the guy. He thinks that's what lead to his death."

"How'd he manage to find out about Antonio?" Ruzek question, his hand rubbing the back of his neck in agitation.

"I listened to a recording from the custody suite." Olinsky informed the group from his desk near the back of the room. "Paul called Jack when he was first arrested and filled him in on the details. Jack warned his brother to keep his mouth shut but obviously he didn't listen."

"We tried to track his phone but he's deactivated it." Mouse stepped into the conversation from his position near Olinsky. "We can't even turn it on remotely."

"We went through Jack's financials, we were able to pin down a small area where he was using his credit card, we've caught him on numerous ATM cameras but none of it leading anywhere conclusive." Atwater informed them. "There's a lot of real estate in that area."

There was silence for a moment, the pressure of the situation baring down on every single one of them as they listened to the tell tale tick of the clock resonating in the background. With every passing second they were in danger of losing their friends and the responsibility of that weighted heavily upon their shoulders.

"The dad was a bust." Erin said finally, drawing the room's attention back to her. "The neighbors haven't seen him for years and the house was sold a couple of years ago."

"Did you see where the social security cheques were going?" Olinsky rubbed his palms across his dark beard wearily. "Jack's been arrested for fraud before."

Mouse picked up his tablet from the desk beside him, his agile fingertips tapping upon the screen as his dark eyebrows furrowed.

"The cheques are being sent to Belleview Care Facility, along with a bunch of others that apparently cover palliative care costs." Mouse told the rest of the Intelligence Team before his expression became pinched, his teeth gnawing at his lower lip. "I've checked the patient intake and there's no one listed."

"What about employees?" Voight prompted, his arms crossed over his chest.

"There are none listed, no outgoings." Mouse informed them as Erin began typing onto her keyboard frantically.

"Medical supplies?" Jay offered up, his dark eyebrows creasing into a frown.

Mouse shook his head in response to Jay's question.

"It looks like the place has just been abandoned. It was closed by the city last year due to budget cuts and has been left derelict ever since." Erin murmured, her gaze raising to meet Voight's, jabbing her index finger at the screen. "That's gotta be it. It's isolated, there's plenty of cover, this has got to be the place he's keeping them."

Voight bowed his head, his grave gaze sweeping the room as he spoke in that gravely tone of his.

"Gear up."

Hey guys, so the good news is Jon Seda is coming back to Chicago PD!

Anime: As you can see Voight and co are on their way but who knows if they will get there on time. If they do survive it won't be easy to come back from, if they can at all. I imagine something like that would take a toll on a relationship.

Nat: Thank you for your continued support on this story, your words mean a lot to me. It is a hard subject to write about, it was hard knowing where to draw the line. I'll keep my mouth shut on what happens to who.

Phoenix: I'm glad your enjoying it and I'm glad to see you sticking with the story! I love writing Gabe, he is definitely my fav person in the story at the moment. That bugs me too, I like to see the relationships as they grow and change. I would love to see more of what happens after the cases. You got your wish with this chapter.

Amber: Don't worry, I know what it's like when the world feels a little dark sometimes so I hope your feeling better soon. Thank you for your amazing kind words they really brighten my day.

Lauren: Thank you for your kind words. I feel for Antonio, he is suffering on so many levels and it breaks my heart writing him like that especially when there's more to come. You'll have to wait and see how it ends for the two of them.

Soccer: Thank you so much for your wonderful words, it's so much fun to write these chars and it makes me smile that you think so.