Title: Plan B
Chapter 20 – Chasing A Killer
The ride to Benny's office is spent in somber silence, Casey glancing over at his friend periodically to make sure that Severide was still with him.
"These past few months…it was hard but with Nick's sessions and you and everyone's help I was trying to just…heal and try to…I don't know but now this. It just brings all that pain back again," Severide mentions as he looks out the window with a mournful gaze.
"I know," Casey agrees as he slows the vehicle outside the Arson Investigation office.
Severide already knows that his father won't be thrilled he was poking around but at the same time he knows he can't fault him for trusting his gut and now proving that feeling is right. The tension, was just ramping up.
"Kelly…Matt…what's going on?"
"Shay was murdered," Severide states outright as he hands his father the baggie with the ignitor evidence in it.
"What? Where'd you get this?"
"You know where. The warehouse."
"Where at the scene?" Benny asks with some impatience.
"Buried in the ground, between the burn pattern and the propane tanks," Severide explains first.
"And there's some debris," Casey adds in haste.
"Did you get pictures?" Benny inquires next; his head shaking when both Casey and Severide look at each other with impish glares. "So you removed this from the scene without documenting its original location?" Benny asks in a less than impressed tone.
"You said you couldn't investigate without further evidence," Severide counters with an agitated huff. "I just brought you further evidence."
Benny looks at the expression in his sons eyes and frowns. "You're right…thank you. Kelly, I know you want to close the door on this and fast but there are certain protocols that must be followed or even if we get the person responsible we can't make a conviction stick due to shoddy workmanship."
"We're talking about Aurora's mother!" Severide gently snaps as Benny heaves a heavy sigh. "Sorry."
"You know I'd never trivialize that but unfortunately the board and the police will need the facts."
"So are we screwed?" Casey dares to inquire.
"No."
"Okay, so what happens now?" Severide pushes.
"Now you need to wait until you hear from me and Kelly I mean it this time. You pushed for this, you found the evidence that's great, now due process has to prevail. Understood?"
"Yeah," Severide answers with a small groan.
"Go back to work and try to keep yourselves busy with your job and let me do mine. I'll call you as soon as I know something."
"Okay," Casey agrees with a small smile and nod as his hand rests on Severide's arm in a bid to pull his friend away.
"I promise we'll get whoever did this," Benny assures his son when Severide hesitates to leave. Knowing the answer will have to do, Severide finally turns and follows Casey out of his father's office, the two of them heading back down to the street.
"You know he'll give his this top priority," Casey reminds Severide as they get back into the car and head back to 51.
"I know…I just…I'm trying to keep my anger at bay but this isn't helping," Severide sighs as Casey nods in agreement. "Thanks for coming with me."
"Course. I want to see this through to completion just as much as you. I cared for Shay too," he adds in a kind tone; Severide looking at him and nodding. "I'll let you tell the teams."
As soon as they get back to 51, Severide finds Boden and then tells the members of Firehouse 51; all of them of course in shock and voicing angry comments about their beloved fallen co-worker. But just before they can disperse Boden heads toward them with a very serious expression.
"Phone call for you Severide in my office. From the penitentiary. Kevin Hadley."
"What?" Casey and Severide both ask in shock, looking first at Boden and then at each other.
"What does that son of a bitch want?" Mouch asks with derision.
"Was a collect call and said he'd only speak to Kelly Severide," Boden continues.
Casey watches Severide pull away and knows his best friend's day is now going from bad to worse. First he had learned that the mother of his beloved daughter was murdered; next he was told his over zealousness might have harmed the investigation and now a former team member who tried to kill him was asking to speak to him. He can only grit his teeth and tell himself that tonight, he'd do whatever he could to keep the mood light and the tone upbeat. That would be a challenge.
Severide follows after Boden with his teeth clenched. The last image he had of Kevin Hadley was the two of them fighting, after Hadley admitted he wanted Severide to die and then accidentally setting himself on fire. Severide of course put it out but Hadley was left permanently scarred and forever bittern. The call would only add to his already sour mood.
Boden closes the door and Severide exhales heavily, literally giving his frame a little loosen up shake before he nods to Boden to press the speaker button so he can take the call. What the hell could he possibly want after all this time?
"What do you want Hadley," Severide instantly sets the serious tone; wanting the incarcerated arsonist to know he wasn't happy to hear from him at all.
"Ah now aren't you going to ask me how I'm doing?"
"No," Severide looks at Boden, who's look returns a silent expression of 'you hold your ground, I have your back.'
"Well…I'm doin' fine, thank you. And I want to invite you to come visit me. See for yourself."
"I'll pass thanks," Severide replies with a hint of annoyance in his tone; his brain urging him to just hang up already. However, the call was for a purpose and the verbal bomb was about to drop.
"Okay…but that fire that killed Shay…you guys are realizing that was arson, aren't ya."
The bomb drops. Severide lifts his shocked gaze to meet Boden's; his brain and heart racing at top speed. Hadley knows about Shay's death? That it was arson? SON OF A BITCH! He inwardly yells. For a few seconds, Severide is uttered speechless. Utterly…speechless. Shay was murdered…Hadley knows…
"Got your attention now huh," Hadley's smug gloat breaks the silent void that is filling Boden's office.
At first Severide wants so smash his fist into the belly of the phone; falsely assuming that it would actually do some physical damage to his taunter on the other end. It of course would do nothing except give Hadley one more thing to gloat about – getting under his skin.
So as much as he hates it, he remains calm. Today was suddenly getting worse.
"Come see me in person," Hadley continues. "Just you."
The line goes dead and Severide looks at Boden, his lips uttering a soft growl. "Chief…"
"You have to go. Tell Casey on your way out and I'll get Capp to cover."
"Thanks," Severide says as he turns and hurries out of Boden's office.
"What's going on?" Casey asks as Severide nears him with an anxious expression. "What'd Hadley want?"
"He knows Shay was murdered."
"What?" Casey asks with a soft hiss as they stand in his small office for a few minutes. "How?"
"That's all he said and the rest he'd tell me in person. Just me. He said to come alone. Better than meeting in some damn death trap. I'll be okay."
Casey looks at Severide in concern and knows that to face his former nemesis and team member is silently taking its toll on his friend's emotional and mental wellbeing. There was just no break it seems. "Tell me later what happens."
"First person."
Severide turns and hurries out of Casey's office, giving a nod to Capp as Boden down the hallway and joins Casey, both of them watching as Severide gets into his car and pulls out of the parking lot.
"Chief…"
"Hadley told Severide to come alone."
"You think he had something to do with Shay's death?" Casey asks weakly.
"I hope not."
XXXXXXXX
The whole drive there had been torment on his nerves, Severide wondering what information Hadley had and trying to keep his resentment toward the fact that he seemed to delight in having a trump card that he didn't even know about.
"Wait in here."
Severide enters the solitary meeting room and sits down, his heart beating painfully in his chest and his mind racing as to what Hadley could possibly know. He watches his former squad 3 team member slowly enter; aided by the guard and frowns. Of course he pitied him, how could any human with any shred of decency in them not look at Kevin Hadley's disfigured state and not feel some kind of pity. Only he didn't have to show it. He owed him nothing but a listening ear and that's all Kevin Hadley was going to get.
"Well get on with it," Severide once again sets the tone right from the start. He wasn't there to make small talk or pleasantries, nor did he want to waste his time if Hadley only knew what he already knew.
Hadley offers Severide a small smirk before he starts in a slow tone; the left side of his face – scarred and disfigured and slightly impeding his normal speech. "You never had any patience," Hadley chides to which Severide just tosses back at him that he's out of his mind and pushes himself forward in a gesture to leave. But once again, Hadley proves he's the one holding all the aces this time and drops another verbal bomb.
"I got something in the mail that you're gonna wanna see."
Severide looks at him in surprise; Hadley continuing, asking Severide…more like telling Severide to get him a special mattress for those with chronic pain. Severide doesn't bite, telling him that he has no pull with the warden and isn't a district attorney looking to make a deal. Maybe it was time to leave.
Hadley plays another ace. This time Severide watches as he slowly pulls a newspaper clipping from his pocket and slowly slides it across the table so it's facing Severide. Severide's heart instantly plummets as he's now staring down at the article outlining Shay's death; her beautiful face looking up at him with silent pleading. But he had read the article a hundred times; that wasn't what Hadley wanted him to see. It was the writing in black felt across the article that now holds his gaze captive.
'They shouldn't have used the word accident – an admirer'
What the hell? Accident? The arsonist…the person who killed Shay sent Hadley this! Or maybe….
"That came out of the blue," Hadley continues as Severide's gaze doesn't lift; his eyes darting between the words and Shay's face. Then…Hadley plays his final ace. "There was no name on the envelope. But…on the envelope…there is a return address. And a nice, clear postmark."
This finally gets Severide's gaze to lift, his jaw tight and tension starting to gnaw at the bones between his shoulder blades. All they had to do was trace the address…they'd have the killer. Hadley knows that. Son of a ….
"Where is it?" Severide asks directly.
But Hadley's not done playing with his former supervisor; this time laying everything on the table. "You get me the mattress and I'll get you the envelope."
Severide looks at him and knows…Kevin Hadley might be a lot of things, but this wasn't something he was playing around with. He might have been able to hide a lot of things, but the constant pain he's in – isn't one of them. However, he wasn't in the mood to be blackmailed so he knows inside two can play this game.
Severide says nothing, merely pushes himself up from the table and heads for the door.
"Ya'll come back now, ya hear," Hadley offers one last parting sarcastic comment; Severide gritting his teeth as he leaves the room, his hears picking up soft laughter as he heads for the security exit.
"You saw it?" Benny asks as Severide heads back to 51.
"I did. Don't know why they sent it to Hadley but if the envelop has the address on it we need it," Severide concludes with a small groan.
"I'll call the warden. I'm heading back to the scene to get my needed documentation."
Severide hangs up with his father and then heads toward the large open truck doors at 51; Casey looking up just as Severide enters.
"How'd it go?" Casey asks in haste, noting his friend's perplexed expression.
"He said someone sent him something from Shay's fire."
"What does that mean?"
"I don't know. Dad called the Warden and he's tossing Hadley's cell right now. As soon as he finds something he'll let us know."
But before Severide can tell Casey anything more, the overhead paging system goes off and it's all hands on deck. Actually thankful for the work distraction, Severide slaps Casey on the back and hurries toward truck 3; fetching his gear on the way. The call, however, turns out to be anything but routine and before he knows it, he's cutting a hole in a small window so that Casey can be the one person to crawl into the room where both the victim and the fire are.
"Be careful," Severide warns Casey in a low tone; the others not ribbing him at all for offering some verbal concern for his friend in their presence. But things don't go exactly as planned and a few seconds later, he's calling out Casey's name as the flames explode around him.
"Casey!" Severide shouts as he pokes his head into the smoky room and squints through his mask. "Casey!"
"I'm…okay! I found the victim! We're coming out!"
After what seems like a small eternity, Casey finally gets the door open and Severide is able to rush into the room with Capp right behind him, letting Casey out first while him and Capp bring the unconscious man with them.
"You okay?" Severide asks as Casey pulls off his mask and coughs.
"Yeah…just a few breathfuls of smoke," Casey tells Severide and then Brett as she instructs him to take a few deep breaths.
"Was a close call," Severide mutters under his breath as Brett heads toward the waiting ambulance.
"I'll be okay."
XXXXXXXX
"I'll call dad for an update," Severide mentions to Casey as he hops down from the front of truck 3. But just before he does, a courier from the prison arrives.
"I got a delivery from Warden Ainsworth at Statesville Penitentiary," the man tells Severide as he hands him the piece of evidence Hadley had taunted him with earlier. Benny Severide's call had paid off.
Severide turns the piece of evidence over in his grasp as Casey nears. "Come on," he nudges Casey. "Let's see where this guy came from."
They head into Casey's office; Casey sitting down and typing in the information into the address finder on the Internet.
"What?" Severide grumbles.
"It's…"
"Yeah nothing," Severide huffs as he straightens up and then turns and heads toward Boden's office; Casey in tow. "I looked up the return address," Severide addresses his boss. "It's just a vacant lot. I think Hadley's messing with us."
He tosses it to Boden with a sigh of exasperation; Boden taking the piece of evidence and looking at it a bit more closely. But as Severide studies his boss's face a bit more closely he notices Boden's expression morph from that of wonder to…knowing? He's seen this address before? Severide looks at Casey before they both look back down at Boden.
"What?" Severide asks Boden in haste. A few seconds later, Boden's expression turns to that of veiled anger. He gets up from his chair, his jaw tight and fist tightening around the sealed envelope; heading to the window with anger boiling inside. "Chief…" Severide tries again.
"There's no way Hadley could have known about that address," Boden tells them, looking at Casey and then Severide and then back down at the piece of plastic in his grasp.
"What do you mean?"
"That is the fire where we lost Henry Mills," Boden replies without missing a beat; Casey and Severide looking at their superior in shock. "That's the fire where I got burned up myself."
Hadley wasn't the only one playing a deadly game and proudly displaying one ace after another.
"So…these are connected," Severide dares to utter as Casey curses in an undertone as Boden confirms it.
"It would seem so."
XXXXXXXX
About an hour later, Casey goes in search of his friend; their strained parting after talking in Boden's office, sending Severide into his office to call Erin first with an update and then his father to let him know what Boden had told him.
"Come and see me after shift," Benny tells Severide just as Casey knocks on his door.
"Will do," Severide replies as he hangs up and then looks up at Casey in wonder. "I don't know whether to shout…curse…I just…this guy…he's made it personal…but it's beyond personal. He get his kicks watching firefighters burn and now…Matt…we gotta stop him."
"What did your dad say?"
"He found a pattern and wants me to stop by after shift."
"What time do you want to go?" Casey asks firmly. Severide looks at his friend and tries to shake his head in argument. "I'm coming. You can't stop me."
"Matt…I'll duct tape you to the chair," Severide retorts lightly; Casey looking at him with a small smirk. "You had a close call today. Dad's just going to show me…I don't know what but you should just rest. I'll pick up Aurora afterward."
"I'm coming."
"Shay always said you were stubborn," Severide playfully growls as he tosses a pencil at Casey. "You okay to go now?"
"I'll get my coat."
Severide watches Casey leave and frowns. He knows his friend had taken quite the tumble and wants to insist he head home to rest but in all honesty he was happy to have him there; two sets of eyes and ears are better than one. Just as he pulls on his coat, his phone rings and he's quick to answer it with a smile.
"Behaving or should I even ask?" Erin asks him with a small snicker.
"Just going to see dad now. He might have something. Erin, I want this guy. I wanted Hadley but…when I go home to my daughter tonight I just want to assure her that everything is okay."
"It will be if you tell her it is."
"I have to believe that."
"Just make sure you remember not to go off half-cocked with something to prove. If it is the same guy he's been elusive for so long and will only be pissed you found him. Tread carefully. If there's something to investigate…"
"You'll be the first I call."
"Ready?" Casey asks as Severide shoves his phone into his inner jacket pocket and nods at Casey; both of them leaving Firehouse 51 and heading for Benny's office. "Did you call Pauline?"
"She said get this guy," Severide tells Casey in truth. "I told her it won't be too late. We just need to hear what dad found and then we'll head there to pick up Aurora and head home."
XXXXXXXX
Benny watches his son and Matt Casey approach and knows this can't be easy and he was actually holding up better than even he had imagined. 'Dad…Shay was murdered.' Those words stung as soon as his son had told him and the thought that this could be tied to the same fire that killed Henry Mills and burned Wallace Boden was almost unspeakable. This was now personal for him too. For them all.
"Dad. What'd you find?" Severide asks as he enters his father's office; Casey at his side.
"Okay so you found this guy's storage unit and interrupted him. Meticulous planners like this don't do well with exposure."
"So can we tell what's going to be his next move?"
"That's the million dollar question Kelly," Benny replies with a heavy sigh as he looks at his son and then past him to Casey's expectant expression. "If we could forecast that, I'd go arrest him myself. However, he's a creature of habit and is going to want to get control back. And he'll do that in whatever way he has to. There's no way this guy started two fires twenty years apart, or three. All signs point to a serial arsonist which is why I'm mapping out all unsolved and suspected arson fires that used a similar method during the set time frame that we figured out. Then we look at everything and try to find the common thread."
"I think the geography speaks for itself," Casey interjects as Benny and Severide look at him in question as he points to the little red pin heads all clustered around a certain area.
"He lives in the hot zone," Severide chimes in.
"Yeah….damn," Benny curses softly as they look at the map in interest. "That's a good start. I'll let you know as soon as I find something that ties at least a few more of these together."
"Okay thanks," Severide nods to his father; Casey doing the same and then the two of them taking their leave and heading back outside to the car. "This guy…I know it'll have to be proved but it sounds like he's an excitement arsonist," Severide ponders.
"Dangerous," Casey gently hisses as they head to pick up Aurora. "That means he's in it for the chaos. He doesn't set out to kill but he doesn't care if he does."
"Damn," Severide curses under his breath; his brain not wanting to acknowledge that Shay's death was just for someone's sick and twisted amusement but knowing that Casey's words are right. "Gotta get this guy Matt. Before he does this to anyone else's family."
"We will," Casey replies firmly as he looks at his friend's tight jaw. "We will."
Severide's mind and heart remain on edge when they arrive at Pauline's and even after he's holding her in his grasp; his agitation continues to build.
"I'll drive," Casey tells Severide in a softer tone as he notices his friend's fingers fumbling with the keys.
"Think he was there watching? Watching us all go in and then hearing Boden…watching the boom and then…damn son of A BITCH!" Severide curses; Casey glancing into the car to see if Aurora would awaken. She slightly stirs but doesn't fully come out of her sleepy stupor. "He watched us carrying her out…trying to save her…bring her back…" his voice trails off as he slaps the key into Casey's palm and then stomps around to the passenger side and gets in.
"We're on to him now Kelly. Your father will start looking at all the similarities in the arson's and he'll find the guy. And when he does, he'll take him down," Casey assures his emotionally distraught friend.
"I better be there. I want to put my fingers around his damn neck!" Severide hisses as they head for home. Casey turns on the radio to get some extra chatter into the car with the hopes of changing the subject to something lighter. But the mood wasn't about to budge willingly as now they were on the trail of the killer and it wouldn't be easy to shake them off – physically or mentally.
"Goodnight sweetheart," Severide whispers as he kneels down at his daughter's bedside and looks at her with a loving glance; kissing her forehead as he pulls the blanket up to her shoulders. "I love you so much."
"Love you too daddy," she whispers as she snuggles deeper into the folds of her blanket. He plants one more kiss on top of her head before he turns off the light and rejoins Casey in the living room.
"Thanks," he tells his friend as he takes the beer that's being offered. "Glad you're here man…if not…I'd have gone postal long ago I think," Severide admits as he looks at Casey with a soft frown. "Shay would tell me not to give up until the truth was found but part of me is afraid to know the truth. To hear him actually say that he enjoyed it."
"You never heard Llewellyn say it so maybe you won't have to again."
"No. This time I want to be there. I want to look that bastard in the face and tell him it's all over."
Casey hears the bitter anger in his friend's voice and knows that if he has the chance Severide will confront Shay's alleged murderer. However, a part of him fears that, that's exactly what this monster wants. He'd be right.
XXXXXXXX
"Who's that?" Casey asks Severide early the next morning as he enter the kitchen to get something to eat.
"Dad. He's with the storage unit landlord right now and thinks the guy might have a name for him."
"Really? Let's go," Casey states in haste.
"Pauline, we gotta get going a bit earlier. Thanks for coming so soon," Severide thanks Shay's mother with a kiss to her cheek.
"You go find who took our Shay from us," she tells him firmly as her hand rests on his. "Find this monster."
"I'm going to do just that," Severide promises as he pulls away and heads for his daughter; giving her a hug and kiss before he and Casey head outside and then drive toward the building where Benny was waiting with a name.
"What'd you find dad?" Severide asks as he and Casey head directly for Benny; Benny waiting with a file in his grasp.
"I found our guy."
"Who is it?" Casey asks as they all look around the picture the storage unit landlord had confirmed was the man who had rented the locker that held the materials that helped kill Shay.
"Adrian Gish. 47. Loner. Arrested twice in the past on arson suspicion and he lives right in the middle of the hot zone. Morris, the guy before me had him in twice for questioning. He came in voluntarily but there wasn't enough proof and the department decided not to pursue. Last I was told he works here," Benny tells his son and Casey; gesturing to the building he told them to meet him, the one they're standing in front of. "As much as we all want to just arrest him we can't. We can ask him to come in and talk with us and see if we can get him on record."
"Right now?" Severide interjects as he looks at Casey with a small frown.
"Right now. But you let me do the talking," Benny insists as Severide is forced to bow to his father's direction.
But just before the three of them could execute their next move, fate's next card of cruelty is dealt and the last person they expected to approach, walks right up to them and taps Severide on the shoulder.
"Aren't you a firefighter?" Adrian Gish asks boldly as Severide stares at him…as all three of them stare at Gish in shock. His father was right – he'll want control back and will do anything to get it. Adrian Gish was now taking control.
"I thought I recognized you from the news. Terrible about that collapse a few months ago. Another firefighter was killed right?" Gish asks; taking much delight in the surprise and now visual misery he's causing the man who watched the mother of his daughter and best friend die. "Paramedic? Horrible…horrible tragedy," Gish slightly smirks as he fiddles with a sandwich in his paper bag. "Just awful," he smiles as he pulls out his sandwich. "Lunch break."
"What's your name?" Severide directly challenges.
"Oh…you already know that," Gish tosses back with smug confidence; looking directly at Severide and not caring about Casey or Benny on either side.
Severide feels his fists clench at his sides as Gish leans in closer; his expression full of taunt and mockery – daring Severide to come at him physically so he could charge the tormented squad leader. "The paramedic who was killed. Pretty thing. Her name was…Shay, right?"
Gish looks at Severide a few seconds longer before he winks; Severide's world exploding as Gish turns to leave. Casey watches in slow motion as Severide starts to pull away from them.
"Kelly!"
"Not here!" Benny's voice hisses in his son's ear as Gish stops and turns around and smiles.
And in that fateful moment Kelly Severide doesn't realize he's just given Adrian Gish exactly what he wants – a reason to make his next arson personal.
A/N: So deviated a bit from the show b/c I already did a funeral for Shay at the start of this story so I left out that part and the part with her sister as I didn't know about Megan until a good way into this story and Shay was an only child. Ah its AU so sorry no megan this time around. But I tried to use as much of the case stuff from the show in these updates, just had Benny and Casey staying things instead of Dawson and the AI chick and I think it flowed smoothly. Thoughts? Will Severide stand down? Will Gish take things to the next level? And who is going to suffer for it? please do review before you go and thanks so much!