Chapter Three

A Matter of Importance

Officer Kim Burgess stepped into the police headquarters with a heavy heart and a knot in her stomach. She had met the deputy superintendent in the corridors back at the 21st precinct from time to time but she had never had a conversation longer than two words with the woman. DSI Miller was a woman whom you showed respect, a woman who had an aura of audacity around her.

The former flight attendant plastered a sweet smile on her lips as she walked through the front doors, hoping Miller was at the office this time of the day.

The middle-aged woman at the reception gave her a quick but stern look as if to say Burgess was disturbing her then appeared completely disinterested. "Do you have an appointment?" she asked.

"No," Kim began, "But it's very important that I speak to Deputy Superintendent Miller right away."

"She has a tight schedule. You can book an appointment like everyone else. I am sure she's got a minute in a few weeks."

Something inside Kim burst and a fire lit behind her usually calm brown eyes. She grabbed her police shield from her belt and slammed it on the counter. She was not some little girl who could be easily dismissed. "Look-," Kim said coldly, "-I've had a rough day and I have information which is vital to share with the deputy superintendent so you make sure to find a few minutes for me – now."

The older woman huffed. "What did you say your name was?"

"Kim Burgess, Intelligence Unit."

OOOOOO

Adam Ruzek walked up the familiar set of stairs to the bullpen in frustration. They'd pulled of something no one had thought possible – they'd brought one of the major drug businesses in Chicago to its knees, blown the whole operation and busted the idiots behind it. They should celebrate, brag at Molly's, have some fun. After all the extra hours, all the hard work, nightshifts and stakeouts they deserved a break. Instead, here he was at the precinct, Kim was at the police headquarters, Jay tried to help his brother, Kevin was with him, Hailey got the IA on her tail and Voight was having emergency surgery.

It was all one big mess. He felt the beginning of a migraine coming as he reached up to massage his temples. Adam sighed. This was not how it was supposed to go down – not at all. He found himself wondering how the next few days would play out. If Jay would stay in command of the group, if they got a new case or if the brass would just order them to sit tight until Voight was back in business.

Adam ran a tired hand through his thick blonde hair then shook his head. When he was younger, fresh out of the academy, he would have jumped at a new case but now ten years later all he wanted was to go home and spend the night with Kim and Makayla.

He sighed as he walked into the room that housed all the intel about the secret operation concerning Los Temidos. The police officer turned to stare at a picture of Anna Avalos smiling as she stood behind her son, arms around him. In the end she had taken the law into her own hands because she felt the team hadn't made progress fast enough. Anna had a tragic history and a complicated past intertwined with the drug distributor Xavier Escano. She had been waiting for revenge – short and sweet – for years. She had trusted Intelligence to help her and she had helped them in return but after years in Escano's grip - after years of fear and mistrust - finally learning that the man ordered her rape as an initiation rite into the Los Temidos, she finally snapped.

Anna had made it her mission, taken it upon herself, to finally kill Escano by her own hands, pushed beyond her limits where she no longer cared about her own life or what her actions might do to her son. Adam knew Voight took it personally; knew his boss felt he had failed the young woman and Adam felt he had let her down too despite everything they'd done to help over the last couple of months. To the city and the mayor, it was a major thing; a breakthrough, to finally be able to bring Los Temidos to their knees. To the Intelligence unit it felt like a failure; a deep agony and a wound deep within the collective soul of the team. In the end they may have won the war but they lost the fight that mattered.

Adam silently wondered what the press release would say concerning Xavier Escano's death. Would Anna Avalos' actions be revealed or forever hidden in darkness? He found that he hoped for the latter.

He sighed and shook his head sadly as he walked away and out of the room. He grabbed a folder. Placed it under his arm and headed for the door. He would go back to the stash house and help out to coordinate a few things before he once again headed back to the hospital and see how is boss was doing.

OOOOOO

"Detective Hailey Upton?" a petite woman dressed in an expensive suit called.

Hailey became acutely aware of her own disheveled appearance as she glanced down at her worn and dirty jeans and her ruined jacket. "Yes," she said.

"A pleasure. My name is Alexandra Thimone, I work for IA. I will be the one to investigate the recent shooting. The one in which you shot and killed a woman named Anna Avalos."

Hailey felt her mouth go dry. To hear it made it much harder and to hear it put like that; the tone cold and harsh - almost accusing - put it into a whole other perspective.

"It was a good shot. I did nothing wrong," Hailey said.

"Then you have nothing to worry about," Thimone replied.

OOOOOO

Samantha Miller did get reports from the field when something major came up. Her assistant had already informed her that the CPD Intelligence Unit had busted into one of the largest stash houses in west Chicago. Therefore, she was very curious as to why Officer Burgess walked in, saying she had important information that couldn't go through proper channels. She'd read up on Voight's handpicked group and she knew that Officer Burgess was a very softspoken and gentle woman who'd started out as a flight attendant. Now, obviously, things had happened during her service for the Chicago Police Department that would have shaken anyone to their core. During a raid a couple of years ago the woman had been shoot and left for dead by Roy Walton. Somehow, she had survived and somehow, she had found the strength within her to go back to work. As was true to everyone under Hank Voight's command – you didn't want to mess with police officer Burgess.

Sam smiled politely as the younger woman appeared at her door. Miller placed her coat on the hanger and moved over to her desk to sit down. "Officer Burgess. You are in luck, I just arrived from a meeting," she said.

Kim nodded. "Thank you for seeing me on such a short notice, ma'am."

Miller smirked somewhat amusedly. "I heard you made friends with our receptionist," she said and then continued; "I was informed on my way back here that the Intelligence Unit brought Los Temidos to their knees and found the largest stash house in west Chicago."

Burgess nodded. "Yes, but that is not why I am here," she said seriously. "I do regret that I barge into your office but you need to know that Sergeant Voight has been brought to Gaffney Medical Centre."

Having leaned back in her chair Sam straightened in surprise. No one had bothered to tell her that. "Is he going to be all right?" she asked carefully.

"We don't know yet, ma'am," Kim replied sincerely.

Sam felt her temper rising. Voight was a friend - a stubborn SOB - but still a friend. She would have liked to be informed.

OOOOOO

Kevin glanced up from the screen of his smartphone as Adam came walking up to them. He cast a quick glance at his watch and realized he and Trudy had been sitting in the waiting room for several hours.

Ruzek sat down heavily next to his colleague. "Any news?" he asked.

Atwater shook his head. "No, not yet. I don't like the silence; it's making me nervous."

Adam pursed his lips.

"What's happening out there?" Kevin asked curiously, nodding at the window.

"Our brothers and sister in blue are tearing Los Temidos apart," he replied with a faint but smug smile before it was replaced by a solemn look. "I guess it's a little comfort given what it has cost us."

Kevin pursed his lips and nodded as he followed Adam's gaze towards the operating theatre. "No one is dead yet," he reminded him softly.

They all stiffened as the door to the room suddenly opened to reveal the scrub clad lead surgeon.

"Good news," Doctor Marcel began as he walked up to the trio.

Trudy stood, followed by Kevin and Adam.

"We managed to remove the bullet and the bone fragment. The pulmonary laceration wasn't as bad as we first thought. We caught it in time."

Trudy let out a relieved breath. "Does that mean that he's as good as new?" she asked hopefully.

Crockett hesitated, weighing his words carefully. "I expect him to make a full recovery but-," he looked at her seriously, "-I am sure that you already know that bullet wounds are not something you just bounce back from."

Adam and Kevin shared a troubled look.

Platt stared at the surgeon, refusing to believe Voight was anything but fine. "Look, if I know Hank right, the first thing he'd want to know is when he can get out of here."

A faint exasperated chuckle escaped the surgeon's lips as he shook his head. 'Police,' he thought sarcastically. 'They really are one of a kind.'

Ruzek shrugged. "So? Is it hours? Days? Weeks?" he pushed.

The doctor sighed. "I am a surgeon, not a magician," he pointed out. "But, if I was forced to guess, judging by similar cases, I would say probably a week."

Ruzek hung his head and grimaced. "But he's talkative soon, right?"

Marcel felt his temper flair slightly at the pushiness of the officer in front of him. "You know what? I'll tell you when you can see him."

Adam stared after the surgeon as he left. "What's the matter with him?"

Kevin tilted his head and pursed his lips as he looked at his colleague and friend. "I don't think he appreciated your upfront manner," he offered. "You made it sound like he was being charged for something."

"No," Adam protested, "I just wanted to know when we can talk to our boss."

"Sometime tomorrow," Platt reasoned as she spoke up. "Doc said he came out okay and it's getting late. You two geniuses have been up way past your bedtime by the looks of it."

"Geez, thanks mom," Adam muttered sourly.

A fire sparked in the sergeant's eyes as she turned her full attention to him, hands on her hips. "You're lucky I've grown to like you Ruzek or you would be scrubbing the bathroom floor at the precinct."

He threw her a mock salute as Atwater made his way over to him, placed his hand on his shoulder and steered him in the direction of the elevators with an amused look on his face.

"You know broh, I thought you would have learned over the years not to get on the wrong foot with Platt," he said lightly.

OOOOOO

Dylan threaded lightly into Jo's room, not wanting to disturb her much needed sleep. He'd been so scared when she'd crumpled in his arms, the deep red blood spreading too fast across her abdomen. His memories were sketchy at best from the apartment building to the hospital. He'd gone into doctor mode but somewhere, deep down, the man in blue had also awakened. The doctor and the policeman inside him didn't always see eye to eye. While the doctor worked with what he had in order to try and save the woman he cared about from death the policeman took notice of his surroundings, memorized it all for later so that he could do a retelling of the events that had unfolded.

He'd jumped into the ambulance as it sped toward the hospital, smoke tickling at the back of his sore throat after inhaling the thick black fog that had surrounded them before they managed to get out of the burning apartment building. He'd temporarily forgotten about Will as he prayed Jo was going to make it. It wasn't until they'd reached the hospital and Jo had gotten proper attention and care that he'd allowed himself to breathe again.

Will, having just lost his new investment and pretty much everything he had, found his brother at the hospital and pretty much forced Dylan into telling Jay Halstead everything that had been going on lately. The doctor figured he owed Will that much.

He wasn't so sure though that Jo would appreciate his actions. He knew she didn't trust her colleagues and higherups but he didn't know what she thought about CPD Intelligence. Maybe it didn't matter anymore? He'd already given the evidence she'd handed to him for safekeeping to Detective Jay Halstead. He just hoped he hadn't sold her out by doing so and that Intelligence really could be trusted.

"Hey," she whispered wearily as he walked up to her bedside.

He gave her an encouraging smile. "Hey," he said. "I am glad to see you awake."

There was a twinkle in her eyes. "So, you doubted me?" she teased lightly.

"Maybe for a second," he let on with a smirk.

"Dylan, I am sorry," she said suddenly as a look of dejection crossed her face.

"For what?" he asked curiously as he took her hand into his.

"For placing you in danger."

"I chose to be in danger," he replied softly. "I knew the risks. I used to work in the same profession as you, remember?"

"I notice the guards at my door," she stated. "Are we expecting trouble?"

"I really hope not but after what happened, I don't know."

"Can you call my lieutenant?" Jo asked. "I better debrief."

"You said you didn't trust anyone," Scott pointed out. "What are you going to say to her?"

"That I was at the wrong place at the wrong time," she replied darkly. "Look, Dylan, you are not safe with the evidence-,"

"I don't have them any longer," he interrupted.

She stiffened in the bed and then grimaced. "What?" she wheezed between clenched teeth. "Do you know how long I have worked to-,"

He held up a hand to forestall her. "I gave them to Will Halstead's brother."

"Who?" Jo scrunched her face.

"My colleague whose apartment building your friends torched," he reminded her. "His brother is Detective Jay Halstead. He works at CPD Intelligence."

Jo swallowed and licked her dry lips. "Intelligence," she whispered. "Voight."

"Somehow, I get the feeling - by your expression - that wasn't something you would have wanted me to do," he stated.

She closed her eyes briefly. "I don't know, Dylan, I really don't know. Intelligence is not exactly an open book. There's a lot of red tape around Voight and his team. There are rumors from back in the days that Voight wouldn't shy away from killing someone himself if the end justifies the means. I haven't been able to deduce whether there are some truths behind those rumors or not – I am not sure I want to know."

"I have heard the rumors too. I had an argument with my father about them a while ago actually," Dylan volunteered. "However, looking at Voight's track record, he runs one of the most efficient units within CPD."

"It's strange," Jo mused. "I've never had the pleasure of meeting the man but I do trust him with the documents."

"There is something you should know, Jo. Voight is currently on medical leave. He was brought into this hospital with a gunshot wound an hour or so before you arrived."

"So, if it's not Sergeant Voight handling the matters, then who is it? Is it this Detective Halstead?"

"Yeah."

She nodded thoughtfully and turned her head towards the window, noticing for the first time how dark it was outside. "What time is it?"

"Midnight," the doctor replied. "You should really go back to sleep."

OOOOOO

To be continued