Hey guys, been a while. I'm sorry for the week off, but I've had absolutely no time this week. That's why I didn't even get to start this chapter until 10pm tonight. But, I'm back. This chapter is sort of a filler, but it's the last of it's kind. Next chapter is a big one. The end is nigh, my friends. I can't believe it's almost done. I already have a shorter story started. Anyways...without further ado, I give you:
Chapter Sixteen: Much Too Much At Stake
(Win – Brian McKnight)
Dawson looked up as Lindsay stomped out of Voight's office and their boss let out a demanding "I sat sit your ass down!" before Olinsky, who was in the office with them, put a hand on his friend's shoulder. He cringed, terrified of his boss's wrath.
"So that went well," he teased.
She groaned. "Honestly...It went better than I expected."
Dawson laughed. "You're an odd one detective."
She rolled her eyes. "What'd got on the list we got from Avail Gem? Anyone who might be involved?"
"I've got one with the last name Marshall, but I ran the name every way I could think of. This person is not connected to Lee or Valerie. I'm running through the other names now."
"Hand me half of them."
Dawson passed her half of the list and then resumed searching through his keyboard. The two worked in silence. After a couple minutes, Atwater, Ruzek and Roman came up the stairs to Intelligence.
"Hey, look at you two," Dawson exclaimed, rising from his feet to give both Atwater and Ruzek a pat on the back. "I heard what happened. You two okay?"
Ruzek laughed. "Oh yeah," he joked, "It's going to take more than a pressure plate to take the two of us down. I'm just glad you're okay..." he trailed off, surely thinking about the one of their team that wasn't.
Atwater snapped the tense silence. "Yeah, we solved our problem with the Adam Ruzek method; jump and pray."
Ruzek shrugged. "It worked didn't it?"
Atwater rolled his eyes. "We had to go to the hospital."
"As a precaution," Ruzek pointed out. "Besides, the doc cleared us, we're 100%...especially compared to the rest of this unit-" Ruzek froze, noticing Lindsay's cold glare and Dawson's not-so-subtle gesture to his own healing injury. "Crap- Sorry- I mean-"
"It's fine Ruzek," Dawson assured him while sending Lindsay a death glare, telling her to ease up on Ruzek. "I'm assuming Roman filled you in on where we stand now."
"Just did," the patrol officer informed them. "...And now that that's done I'm going to go pick up Burgress. Since we've ruled out Voight's family as a potential target, Olinsky thought she should be here for Valerie's endgame."
Dawson nodded. "Sounds like a good plan. Hurry back."
"Always," Roman promised as he jogged off down the stairs. He had only just opened the gate that divided Intelligence from the rest of the precinct when Platt called him.
"Hey Roman! Send Alvin down. He's got someone who wants to see him."
"Aw Sarge," the cop moaned, "I just came down."
"Then you'll just have to go back up."
Roman rolled his eyes, but returned a few moments later with Olinsky and Voight. He pointed them to Platt and left the precinct to go pick up his partner. When the two senior police approached the sergeant's desk she shook her head towards a woman sitting on one the waiting benches.
"Dr. Courtney?" Olinsky asked, surprised.
The doctor, who's face was covered in tear stains, looked up, glumly, from her lap. "I need to talk to you...In private."
They were in Voight's office, door shut, as per his protocol. "You gonna tell us what's up?" Olinsky questioned.
She looked away for a moment, before speaking up. "I got a call from Valerie. It sounded like a suicide note. I would know, I've gotten plenty from suicidal patients. She kept apologizing, calling me her dearest friend. I'm worried about her. She's going to do something stupid isn't she?"
Voight sighed. "It would seem so. It is to be an event that promises there be a large collateral. Don't suppose you'd happen to know what it might be all about."
The doctor shook her head. "Until you showed up, I had no idea Valerie was capable of any act of cruelty. I honestly, didn't really believe you until she left that voicemail...Here. I still have it recorded."
Dr. Courtney unlocked her phone and handed it to Voight. The older man found the voicemail and, once the room was silent, he pressed play on the recording.
"Hey Courtney," came a voice. "It's me, Valerie. I jus wanted to say thank you for everything you've done for me. I owe you so much. I only wish I deserved your friendship. You've seen me at my worst...both times. I wouldn't have made it without you. I barely made it with you. I wish you the best of luck to you in all your endeavours. I'm so sorry, my friend. I hope you can someday forgive me for doing what needs to be done.." A beep followed.
The two cops shared an inquisitive look. "Tell me about the comment she made involving 'her worst'."
Dr. Courtney sighed heavily. "The two moments in her life that destroyed her."
"Lee getting shot and the loss of her child," Voight assumed.
Dr. Courtney's face filled with confusion. "Her child? What on earth are you talking about?"
Olinsky let out a tense breath. "She lost the child. That's why she's doing what she's doing. Valerie was lying to her husband...and everyone she cared about for months. She felt that she'd felt that she'd failed her family and that she'd let Lee down."
Dr. Courtney bit her lip, holding back waves of sadness. "I can't believe she never told me," she sniffed. "We've always been so close. We told each other everything...ever since she lost her brother-"
"The death of her brother," Voight parroted. "That was the first event, not Lee's shooting."
Dr. Courtney nodded.
"Tell us more about what happened."
"Courtney's story checks out," Ruzek announced to the unit. "I just spoke with a detective from the case of her brother's death. The two of them were home alone when a robber broke in. He had a gun, told them to sit still and shut up and they might just live. They did, but when he went for Their late mother's necklace, her brother jumped the guy. The robber put two in his stomach before rushing off. She called 9-1-1, but it was too late. Her older brother died in her arms."
Nadia shook her head sadly. "This girl can't catch a break."
"It doesn't excuse what she's doing," Lindsay reminded the group.
"She really is a good person," Courtney stated. "She's just been through so much crap in her life. She tried so hard to keep it together. She did so well after Ryan's death."
"The baby?" Olinsky asked, confused. "I thought you didn't know she lost her child."
She frowned. "Ryan was her brother's name."
Voight cursed under his breath. "They were going to name their baby after her dead brother."
"You'd think they'd honour Hansen with their child's name," Ruzek pondered.
Voight shook his head. "Hansen's death didn't affect Valerie as much as her brother's did, and Lee's not the kind of guy to dig up and wear his past around like that. Her brother's name makes sense. For her, it's wear this all began."
"When she lost the child," Lindsay mused. "It must've been like she was losing her brother all over again. Plus she thought she would lose Lee, just like when he was shot. All those bad memories back at once, plus the added pain of losing child..."
"I wish she'd told me," Courtney whispered. "Ryan Marshall...he would've been such a beautiful baby boy."
"Wait Antonio," Lindsay said. "It didn't click until now, but wasn't Ryan Marshall-"
"-A name on Vanto's list?" he finished, checking over the names. He scrolled through the names. "Son of a...How did we miss that?"
"Why did Vanto give a million dollars to a dead unborn child/dead brother?" Ruzek asked.
Dawson shook his head. "He didn't give it to Ryan Marshall, he gave it to a charity under his name. The Ryan Marshall Foundation was supposed to be a non-profit organization dedicated to helping get rid of gangs."
"It must've hit a nerve, his brother being as messed up as he is and all," Atwater assumed.
Dawson nodded. "But, the woman to he gave the money to was one Jessica Samms. She's a long time business partner of Avail Gem, does business with them all the time. She's a real person, not Valerie Marshall."
"She used to work with her, though," Courtney added. "Jessica was another sponsor of The Stein Homeless shelter. That's the place where Valerie met the troubled people who she sent to me. They worked at the same building for a while. Valerie told me how Samms was so nonchalant about everything. She told me, she made it a game to get all of Samms' passwords information."
"Including her pin number," Dawson groaned. "It says here that Samms only met face to face with Mr. Vanto once, and that was when he gave her all the money for the Ryan Marshall Foundation."
Lindsay shook her head. "Why gangs?" Everyone turned to her. "Why did she make the foundation about gangs? Why not for victims of PTSD? Everything with her is so personal, this must be. She even used the name of her dead, unborn child. Why gangs?"
"Lee's shooting was supposed to be a gang initiation," Voight suggested.
"The file for her brother's murder says they liked it for being the same thing," Ruzek added.
"Could that be what her end game is all about? Getting back at gangs?" Dawson wondered. "What if the Ryan Marshall Foundation is really all about getting rid of gangs?"
"If that's the case," Voight pointed out. "She's probably going to blow up the main base of a gang. Knowing what we know, about there being collateral it probably has a front as a legitimate business. Maybe a nightclub, or a bar."
Olinsky nodded. "Probably. Do we have any idea what gangs we're looking at?"
Courtney shook her head. "I'll see if I can get a hold of the detective's who worked Lee's shooting," Nadia offered.
"That's a good idea," Ruzek replied. "I'll call up the one from her brother's death."
"Hold that thought," Voight announced. "I want you and Olinsky to swing by the Marshall residence. Pick up Lee and bring him to the precinct, as soon as we know where it's all going down, I want us ready to go and I'd like to have Lee with us. Perhaps, he can help talk Lee down."
He turned to Dawson. "Dawson," he continued. "You and Atwater should go talk to the detective from the brother's case. It was a long time ago. It might be better for the detective to see you to in person."
Dawson nodded, grabbing his jacket. He and Atwater then followed Olinsky and Ruzek out of Intelligence. Lindsay and Courtney turned to Voight.
"We still have Essa in our interrogation room," he stated. "I'd like you to talk to her doctor. Maybe she knows more than she's letting on. Besides, I want to know all that I can about this plan. You will go into the room with me. Lindsay, you can watch from the other side of the mirror."
Lindsay sighed. "Sure thing boss," she grumbled.
"Ryan Yanda." The old detective sighed. "Yeah, I remember it. It's been so long, one would think I'd have forgotten it, but it's all still so fresh in my mind, like yesterday. My partner and I were nearby, we were on our way back from the courthouse when we heard the call. His sister was holding him so tightly. We had to pry her off his corpse. I promised to find the bastard, but I never did."
"The file said you thought it was a gang initiation," Dawson mentioned.
The retired man nodded. "They lived in a rough neighbourhood, raised by a single father who always had to work overtime. There were all sorts of gangs running the streets. I can think of at least three that used petty crime as means of initiation...and well, the Yanda's, they weren't exactly low risk."
"You wouldn't happen to have a list of those gangs would you, Detective Barnes?" Atwater asked.
Barnes looked puzzled for a moment. "Um...Oh yes. I still have copies of my detective notes around here somewhere. I'm sure I had a list in there. You two wait here. I'll be right back."
The two detectives nodded, then smiled as the older man left the room.
"This case is just full of people who couldn't catch a break, isn't it?" Atwater muttered glumly.
"There are a lot of people in the world who couldn't catch a break," Dawson pointed out. "It doesn't mean you have to turn into a monster. Lindsay had it rough, she didn't turn into a monster."
"She had Voight," Atwater stated.
"And Vanessa had Courtney. She had Lee. She had a life, a family. Even if her grief did blind it from her sight, she did have family. It doesn't matter how much you have if you lose that much. There's only so much a person can take. We all have breaking points, different people just handle it differently."
Atwater shrugged. "How do you think Lindsay would handle it?" he asked.
Dawson raise an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"When she yelled at Essa in interrogation, she made up random things, maybe they were true, maybe they weren't...The point it, they were all about how the unit would react if we...if we didn't find Halstead. She said she's tailspin out of control. Do you think she'd really? I know I haven't been in the unit that long, but she seems like such a strong person."
Dawson sighed. "I don't think anyone could ever really depict, with any degree of accuracy, how Erin Lindsay would react. She's like a sister to me, but since her partner was taken we've been like cats and dogs."
The younger detective nodded solemnly, but said nothing, for he had no idea what to say.
"Hello Essa," Courtney greeted a she sat down across the interrogation table and Voight took up his post in the corner of the room. "How have you been?"
Essa fidgeted uncomfortably. "Fine..."
Voight spoke up in a cold, emotionless voice. "We went where you told us too. The place where you said Valerie took you one time so you could help them beat up my detective for a bit. We found Valerie. She got away with my guy, but before that, we got to talk to her."
"Wh-What'd she say? Is she mad at me?"
"We didn't talk about you. We talked about her. She did lose the baby. She lost it months ago. She's been lying ever since. That's why she agreed to help you. She doesn't care about you or your revenge on me. She cares only about her revenge on a the gang that killed her brother and shot Lee. She's been using you all this time."
"That's not true."
"It is," Voight assured her. "She doesn't care about your mission. You've failed Essa."
"Liar!" she screeched so loud Courtney jumped.
"He's not lying Essa," Courtney promised softly, once she had collected herself. "I'm so sorry, but he's not."
Tears began to stream down Essa's face. "You promised to never lie to me," she whimpered at the doctor.
"And I still haven't broken that promise."
More tears. "I don't know where your friend is. I don't know what Valerie is up to now, but I know her. She'll kill your friend. He'll die! And even if she isn't trying to avenge Hansen, she will still make you suffer the way I have!"
Voight took a threatening step forward, but Essa's hysteria did not fade in the slightest. "I bet he'll die screaming out in agony for you to save his miserable life! And you'll never even find him because he'll be blown to pieces, just like Hansen! You'll have to body to bury, only scraps!"
"Essa," Courtney tried.
"And you can look at the pictures! At the memories! But they mean nothing! They can't bring him back! Nothing can because he's dead! Because you failed him! Just like Hansen! He needed you and where were you?! Aren't you his backup?!"
"I haven't failed him," Voight added calmly. "We're getting close."
"Close isn't enough! Jay Halstead is going to die!"
Voight slammed his hands on the table just as Lindsay burst through the door to interrogation. "Eri-" he tried. The female detective jumped at Essa, but Voight got in the way at the last moment.
"I am his backup!" She cried out in sheer anger. "I did everything I could! You had me shot! I couldn't help him! I tried!"
Essa started laughing maniacally, causing Courtney to shoot the Sargent of Intelligence a knowing look. "Get her out of here, Essa's having a complete breakdown."
Voight didn't have to be told twice. He hauled Lindsay out to the hall, shutting the door behind them. She fought him and continued to scream her defence to the mentally unstable criminal. Once the door shut, she sank to her knees, with Voight and began to sob.
"Erin?" he asked calmly. "Erin. Look at me. I know you're freaking out right now, but we will find him. I promise you."
She shook her head. "I can't keep doing this," she sobbed softly. "I can't. Every second he's gone...it's like I'm losing my mind, Hank. I feel like I'm going crazy. Everything makes me so mad." She ran a hand through her hair. "We have to find him... I need us to find him."
Voight sighed softly, finally realizing what she was telling him. In a way, as much as hated to admit it, he'd known it all along. He pulled back from her and looked at her face as she smiled sadly. She finally understood why she losing her mind, and so did her dad.
"I know," he whispered softly. "I know."
"Hey Nadia," Dawson said over the phone. "We have three possible gangs that Valerie could be going after."
"I have two," she admitted. "The Jade Serpents and The Cobalts."
"I've got the Cobalts too," Dawson explained. "Not the Jade Serpents though."
"I'll let Voight know. Get back to station. I don't expect it'll take Voight long to determine the target now."
Tada! Done! What'd you think of the chapter? I know the ending was kind of rushed('cause I was rushed), and maybe really OOC, but I'm happy with the Lindsay/Voight moment? Are You? I can't say much else, because I've got to go, but pleeeeeeeaaaaasssseeee review. Next chapter is the big showdown (or at least the first part of it ;) ) and I'd really appreciate your advice. What do you want to happen? Let me know. I'll make it happen (almost definitively). See you next Sunday!
Next Chapter:
Chapter Seventeen: Worlds Collide & Hearts Get Broken