"No!" Kim gasped, "He has Adam! Oh my god.." she felt her knees buckle, "I can't believe this!" She pressed her fingers into her eyes, "You knew?" She eyed Hank, "You told me he was working..did you know he was with Woods?"
"Burgess, I had no idea." Voight told her, "You'd think I'd sit on it if I knew?" His reply was icy.
"Are we sure he's even missing?" Jay asked, "For all we know he's working you."
"C'mon man, you know Ruzek ain't like that. Did he fuck up? Yeah, he did. He knows it to but if he's in trouble..." Kevin paused, "If he needs us? I won't let him down. You know he'd do the same for you..."
Jay tossed his jacket back on his desk, "What do we do?"
"We backtrack, we retrace Ruzek's steps. When was the last time one of you saw him? Spoke to him? We need to whatever we can to figure out what happened when he left here." Hank instructed, "Kevin, check in with his father, see if he's heard from him."
"Will do." He was already typing up a text message.
"Let's see if we can't ping his phone, at the very least see the last cell tower his phone hit." Al suggested he looked at Jay, "Halstead, I know you're pissed. I am too. We need to push that aside, let's find Adam and then you can kick his ass."
Antonio got to work on the white board, a map of Adam's apartment building and surrounding area were among the first things he hung up, "Ruzek car is at his place, so let's go head and assume he walked. We all know Adam likes to knock a few back, my gut says he's at a place within walking distance. There's seven bars within a ten mile radius."
"Ruzek wouldn't walk ten miles." Halstead called out, "He's walking at most three or four miles. Round trip. He's sticking close to home."
"Agreed." Kevin bobbed his head up and down, "He'd avoid blue bars. Badge bunnies aren't his thing.." he scanned the list of bars, "He's also gonna want a place with good music. You can take these two off the list." He pointed to the two he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Adam wouldn't so much as step foot in.
Antonio balked, "Not ruling any of them out. Ruzek isn't in the right headspace" they had all noticed a change in Adam but none of them had questioned it, "We all noticed it, never in a million years did I think it was this though." He turned back to face them, "Show his picture to the staff at every place, customers too. Someone had to have seen him. Our priority is to find out where he was hanging out and then we can go from there."
Kim moved to sit at his desk, "Can we get into his computer?"
"Unlikely. If he was feeding Woods information, he'd have it locked up tight." Antonio shrugged.
"It's Ruzek. He's technologically challenged." Kevin reminded them.
Hank moved to Adam's computer and after a few keystrokes he was in, "Once he started working with me I had him give me his password, I doubt you'll find anything though."
Woods slammed the door shut, "I want him gone." He grabbed a towel and wiped his hands off, "I don't give a fuck what you do with him."
"Alive?" He questioned. He was torn on how he wanted this to end, he didn't know what would be more enjoyable. Would watching the life out of him be fun? Or would he enjoy just plugging one in his head, killing him instantly.
"Don't care." Woods grabbed his keys.
They had split the bars up by address, Kim and Kevin had taken the even numbers and Antonio and Al the odd numbered bars. Jay had elected to stay behind and work from the desk, he was going through Adam's CI file and reaching out to see if any of them had heard from Ruzek.
As the news settled with him, his anger began to lessen. Sure it sucked that he had been called out and had to deal with IA but it was merely a slap on the wrist. He had gotten Will out of a dozen stick situations, he just happened to have luck on his side and no one had been the wiser to it. He knew that if someone like Woods had caught on to what he had done to hide Will's indiscretions, he would've protected his brother at all costs. Even if it meant turning on the guys in his unit, he would hate it and himself but he'd protect his family.
That was exactly what Adam had done. He couldn't fault him for it, he was protecting his sister and nephew.
"Why are we not asking for help from patrol?" Kim ranted as they drove to the next bar, "Pulling patrol in would be a tremendous help, they could cover more ground."
"We can't. Just like we couldn't when I was in a jam. They play it by the book..we haven't even read the fucking book." Kevin parked in the fire zone, "This place is new. I've never been here..you?"
"No. I have not." Kim replied, "Did you know about his sister? It's crazy I was going to marry the man and I had no idea. He never once mentioned her, never talked about his nephew. I don't get it. It's bizarre."
"That it is." Kevin had knew nothing of his sister and nephew.
The hall was nearly empty, aside from a small group of guys playing in the corner of the room the place was empty. They headed for the bar, an older man was in the midst of restocking bottles of liquor and taking inventory.
Kim cleared her throat, "Chicago PD." She held her badge up, "We would like to ask you a few questions."
He wiped his hands before tossing the towel over his shoulder, "About?"
Kim grabbed the photo from her back pocket, "This man. His name is Adam Ruzek. Have you seen him? He may have been here two nights ago? He's our friend, he's a police officer."
He took the photo from Kim, he curled his lip a bit, "Yes. Matter of fact he was here. He got drunk. Fall down drunk. He left with a redhead. Very busty if you know what I mean." He held his in front of his chest smirking the entire time, "Bet he got lucky."
Kevin could see the annoyance on Kim's face, "Forget her for a minute. Was he with anyone else?" Kevin asked, "How did he seem?"
"Aside from drunk? He looked fine, the redhead was all over him. They got sloppy, sloppy enough that I was about to ask them to leave. They left on their own though. He was with three or fourth other guys. Come to think of it, two of the guys left shortly after your friend stumbled out. He was really drunk, probably high as a fucking kite as well. He was clearly disoriented, but he kept pounding down the shots."
Kim sighed heavily, "You didn't think to cut him off?"
"He wasn't driving, I saw no need to cut him off."
Kevin noticed the camera just above the man's shoulder, "The camera? Is it just for show or does it actually work?"
"Works. We've got them on all doors and near our service entrance. Do you need to see the footage? Your friend..is he okay?" The bartender was genuine in his concern.
"Yes we need to see it. Our friend is missing, so no I don't think he's okay." Kim explained.
"It's done." Watkins leaned against the doorframe, "What's the next step?" He asked, he looked down at his hands still caked in a mixture of blood and dirt.
"Nothing. It's over." He grabbed the briefcase and handed it over, "Here's the final payment."
"Thanks." He took a quick glance at the money, "what about my promotion? I want in the gang unit. You said you'd make it happen."
Woods nodded, "I did. I tried. It's a no go. You'll find I compensated you above what we agreed upon, I added another five grand. That's just for you."
Ken wasn't pleased, "You said you'd get me in that unit. What the fuck man?"
"I tried. It's a pretty tight unit. They don't want outsiders. That's the way it is sometimes. We're done here." Woods pointed to the door, "We're done." He lied smoothly, he never once spoke to any in command of the gang unit. He had told Watkins what he knew the kid wanted to hear, he was a master manipulator and knew exactly what buttons to push.
"What if they come after us?" He knew Intelligence would eventually put the pieces together, and they'd be out for blood.
"Keep your head down. If you start feeling the heat? Get out of town. If you did the job correctly you'll be in the clear." Woods replied.
"I did it correctly." He retorted, "What about you?"
"Don't worry about me. I've got everything under control." Woods grabbed his car keys, "Get out of here."
They watched intently as Adam left the pool hall, the busty redhead's lip attached to his neck, the pair stumbling towards a silver sedan. Within five minutes of that two males emerged from the hall and jumped in a dark colored van.
Halstead scowled, "That proves nothing. We've all seen Ruzek get blitzed and hook up with some chick" he countered, "Ruzek is could still be sleeping it off."
Al glared at him, "C'mon Jay"
"I'm just playing devil's advocate, that's all." Jay explained.
Kim moved towards Jay, "The bartender said he was falling down drunk, sloppy drunk. He also said it looked as if Adam was high. I know Adam better than anyone here, does Adam drink too much sometimes? Yes. Does Adam get sloppy drunk? No, he does not. We also know Adam doesn't touch drugs."
Kevin came bounding up the stairs, "Listen to this." He held up two photos, "This is Ken..."
"Watkins!" Kim finished for him, "I know him. He and Adam were in the academy together." They had all caught up for a drinks a time or two, mostly during the beginning of their relationship, "It's been almost two years though, I don't know if Adam has seen him recently" she answered, "For all we know that night Adam went missing is the only time they've hung out." She rambled. "I'm sorry..go on."
"Yes. Watkins. The other guy is August Gibbons. He's a patrol officer from the seventh district. They're the ones who jumped in the van. They left just after Adam and the busty redhead left."
"We got a name on her yet?" Voight asked.
Upton came from the other direction, "Busty Redhead is Staci Campbell. She's got a bunch of priors. Everything from simple larceny to possession with intent to sell. She was also rounded up in a prostitution sting a few years ago."
"This has Woods written all over it, Hank. Woods has Adam." Al pounded his fists on the desk, causing Kim to jump a bit.
"Get an address and let's roll out. Halstead, Burgess my office." Hank ordered.
Once Jay closed the door he started talking, "I need to know you're both thinking clearly, Jay I know you're pissed at Ruzek. I get it. I do. I just want you to know that none of this has been easy for Adam, it's been eating him alive. He made a mistake. He should've come to me immediately. He knows that."
Jay hung his head, "I know, I do. I'm good to go. I need to help with this one, Sarge. I want to get those bastards and get Adam back."
"Good, go downstairs and get ready." Hank turned to Kim, "You good? I know things are different for you, that you loved Ruzek once."
"Love. I love Adam." Kim corrected him, "Things are muddled and I don't know where we stand but I never stopped loving him. I'm good to do this, Adam needs all of us. I won't let him down, not this time. Not when he is in trouble."
"Alright then, if things change I will pull you so fast your head spins. Understand?"
"Yes." Kim answered, "I do. You don't need to worry though, I'm good. I can do this." She was firm in her response, and her tone was edgy. She was no longer the tender hearted patrol officer, she had grown a bit jaded. Her sister's attack had changed her, more than being in the unit had.
"Fuck!" Watkins growled when he heard the pounding on the door, seconds later it burst open splintered wood flying all over the place. He was face down on the ground before he could register what was going on, he had a knee in his back and a gun pressed to his temple.
"Where's Ruzek?" Voight screamed he was on his knees, nose to nose with Watkins, "Tell me what you did with my officer!"
Watkins spoke through clenched teeth, "Fuck you!"
Voight stood up and delivered a solid kick to Watkins' rib cage, "Where is he?" Hank kicked him again, "You think we won't find him? I will find him, you can tell us where he is or we can beat it out of you! You pick!"
Olinsky, Halstead, and Antonio formed a circle around Watkins who still lay on the floor, he had curled into the fetal position. His skin had turned an ashen gray and sweat beaded along his hairline.
"Fuck off!" Watkins muttered.
Atwater grabbed him by the back of the neck and pulled him to his feet, "I will destroy you! Do you hear me? That's my brother you fucked with, my brother!" Spittle flew from his mouth, his eyes full of rage, "Tell me where the fuck Ruzek is!"
"Dead" Watkins smirked, "He's dead."
"No!" Kim gasped, her knees buckling, Upton raced to catch her before she fell, "No! No! No!" She cried.
"Shh!" Upton held her, "He's bluffing Kim, Adam isn't dead."
"No?" Watkins turned his head to face her, "Maybe not yet, but he will be soon"
Jay smashed his forearm into Watkins' jaw, "Then you better start talking."
"Fine." He spit blood on to the floor, "You wanna know? You keep me outta jail. If you can promise me that...I'll tell you."
Voight shrugged, "Sure" he told him.
Kim was quiet as they drove to the abandoned warehouse, it was just ten minute ride but it felt like it had been hours, she feared they'd be to late. Her stomach was filled with dread and she felt like she was seconds from vomiting, it was to the point she feared opening her mouth.
The ambulance was behind them as they pulled into the parking lot, the building had been vacant for decades, a true eyesore. It had been a chemical plant and the corporation that owned it hat deserted it years ago, and the city refused to tear it down, unsure of the environmental damage tearing it down would cause.
"Back that way" Watkins directed them, "I dumped him back there."
Kim shot out of the car like a bullet and was behind the dumpster in a flash, she kneeled beside Adam, "Adam...Adam..." she rubbed her fist on his sternum, "Adam..can you hear me? Adam!" Tears streamed down her cheeks, "Adam!" She wailed.
Kevin's arms engulfed her, pulling her from his side. "Let the paramedics work Kim, let them help Adam" she fought against his hold.
"We've got a pulse. He's breathing, barely. Diminished breath sounds. Numerous facial cuts and lacerations, suspected right tib-fib fracture, possible right arm fracture. Let's roll out." They carefully moved him on a backboard before placing him on the stretcher, "We got room for one more."
Kim pushed away from Kevin, "I'm going with him."
Kevin paced the waiting room, "How much longer?"
Al stopped him in his tracks, "It's not even been in hour. He's breathing, he's alive. Just remember that, okay? As soon as they know something they'll tell us. Kim's with him, he isn't alone."
Kim clutched his hand, she had just been allowed back in the room. She hated stepping outside while they grabbed X-rays, as soon as radiology was finished she raced back inside. They had drawn blood and already did a CT, all they could do now was wait for the results and for Adam to wake up.
It was hard to look at him, his face was swollen and filled with bruises and cuts, a deep laceration at his temple and one bellow his right eye. His chest was also covered in bruises, his leg thankfully in a splint, the right leg was mangled just above the ankle and it was hard to look at, his right arm swollen as well but nowhere near as bad as his leg.
She tenderly touched his head, "Adam..come on...I need to see your eyes." She begged him, she adjusted the oxygen mask, "Please Adam, just open your eyes."
"We need to take him upstairs, he needs surgery to repair the leg fractures" the doctor told her, "They should be here in a few minutes to take him. You're welcome to stay until then."
Kim looked over her shoulder at him, "Is he okay? Why isn't he waking up?" She kept her hand on his head.
"He's exhausted, dehydrated, and in pain. He's okay. His head CT was clean, no brain injuries. His facial fractures are minor, he's been through a lot. Rest is good for him."
He felt pressure of some sort on his head, his eyes flew open and he gasped, his body thrashing about "No!" He screamed in a panic, the lights causing his eyes to slam shut.
Kim grabbed him, "Shh...Adam...Shh..it's over. You're safe now. Adam, please calm down."
Adam felt disoriented, "What?" He mumbled, his heart rate beginning to slow down, his breathing still labored, "Where..."
"Chicago Med." Kim told him, "You're ok. Well, not really.." she chuckled softly, "...but you will be. You're about to go upstairs for surgery to repair your leg."
The nurses knocked on the door, "It's time."
Kim glanced at them, "Okay. Just five more minutes, please?"
"Of course."
Kim wiped her tears, "It's over." She repeated, "It's over. You're safe now. I will be here when you're done." She stroked his cheek lightly, "Close your eyes and sleep. It's all over."
"Kim..." Adam mumbled.
She pressed her finger to his lips, "Don't talk. We can talk later. I will be here when you wake up. I promise." She pressed her lips to his forehead, "It's over." She wasn't sure who she was trying to convince, herself or Adam.
"It's over." She whispered as they wheeled him away, the dam finally broke and the tears poured from her eyes, her legs giving way as she fell to the floor.
I just want to take a minute to thank everyone for their kind remarks, when I addressed those negative reviews it wasn't to gain positive ones. It was purely to address that review, I couldn't do it privately as it was a 'guest' and I felt it only fair that I was able to respond to their review and that was the only way I could.
As I said before I'm well aware that not everyone will like what I write or my writing style and that's fine. I just don't get reading something you clearly dislike just to pick it apart, it's pretty petty of that person. It's obvious their only agenda is to tear it apart and it baffles me to be honest and it speaks volumes about that person.
Thank you to all who left kind words, and for those that are bothered by my filthy mouth, no one is forcing you to read it.