Chapter 14

"Hey. What's up, Kev? You're on speaker," said Hailey. She and Dante were on their way back to the District with the files. Homicide grumbled a little about handing them over until they got calls for shootings in three different parts of the city. Then they were only too glad to pass the buck.

"We have a situation. Some yahoo spilled coffee in front of Platt's desk. Kim slipped in it and hit her elbow really hard. Adam's running her over to Med to get checked out."

"Amid much protesting, I'm sure," said Hailey with a little laugh.

"You got that right. Anyway, I'm reviewing pod footage around the neighborhood where the murder victim was found. Voight wants you guys to pay a visit to Windy City Dates."

"Got it. What's the address?" asked Dante.

A man wearing an expensive suit with hair pulled into a ponytail leaned over the front desk laughing with the receptionist. He turned his head and straightened up when the front door opened. His eyes slid over Hailey from head to toe and a cocky grin came over his face. "Looking for a job, sweetheart? We can always use more little blondes."

"No, thanks. I have a job." She pulled her jacket aside to reveal her shield and weapon. "Chicago PD. "I'm Detective Upton and this is Officer Torres."

"We need you to look at some photos," said Dante. Only now did suit guy spare Dante a brief look. Then his gaze swung back to Hailey.

"Well now, if they're of you, Detective Upton, I'm more than willing." Suddenly, out of his peripheral vision, he saw the Maserati of the big boss, Dimitri, parking across the street. He was supposed to be "fixing" the books, but had not yet finished. If the boss found out, well, he didn't want to think about what might happen. Only after he'd taken this job did he realize that Dimitri and his cronies were Bratva. Russian mafia.

"Why don't we take this to my office?" He led them down a hallway and turned to the right. He gestured to two chairs in front of the desk. "Have a seat," he said as he dropped into a big leather chair behind the desk.

"Do you know these girls?" asked Dante as he showed him the phone.

"Never saw them. But they're hot," he sneered.

"Are you sure? Because one was murdered, one's missing and the other is fighting for her life in ICU," said Dante.

Suit guy picked up a cigar, lit it and leaned back in his chair. "Like I said. Never saw them." Pungent smoke drifted toward the ceiling. "I'm a busy man, so if you'll excuse me . . ."

This moron needs his face rearranged, thought Dante. Instead, he reached across the desk, snatched the cigar from his mouth and stubbed it out on a pile of papers in the middle of the desk. Then he tossed it in the trash can.

"What the hell? Do you know how much that cigar cost?" yelled the guy. The leather chair slid back as he scrambled to his feet.

"Now that you're not so busy polluting this room, why don't you take another look?"

"How many times do I have to say it, I never saw those stupid bitches before," he insisted.

Hailey shook her head. "I don't think you're telling us everything, Brad."

He sucked in a breath. "How do you know my name?"

"According to the incorporation papers, you're Bradley Smithson, the accountant of record," said Hailey. She turned her phone toward him showing his smiling college graduation photo.

"For fun, maybe we'll come back with a warrant and check the tax returns for, I don't know, perhaps the last five years." She turned to Dante. "What do you think, Torres?"

"Sounds good to me," he shrugged.

Brad held up a hand defensively. "Hey, I've only worked here for five months. I have no clue what these pricks were doing five years ago."

Hailey stared at him. "Ball's in your court, Brad. Talk to us or search warrant."

Brad stood there weighing his options. Hailey thought he was going to cave, but finally he said, "You need to leave. Like now."

Hailey said nothing for a long moment. "If you change your mind." She handed him her card.

As they went out the office door, Dante paused. "One more thing. Smoking will kill you. Might want to keep that in mind."

"GET OUT!"

Brad hurled a glass paperweight toward the door. Dante ducked around the corner before it crashed into the opposite wall.

When they reached the car, Hailey had to smile. "Nice touch with the cigar."

Dante grimaced. "I hate those things. Are you really interested in the tax returns?"

"I don't give a shit if they're cheating on their taxes. I just wanted to yank his chain, get him off-balance. But there's an off chance we could learn something."

Brad paced around his office. Why hadn't Dimitri come in yet? Must be having lunch and getting plastered over at the Little Odessa Tearoom. Not to mention trying to grope Katya, the owner.

He sat down heavily in his chair and dropped his head into his hands. I am so screwed. I lied to those cops. He had indeed seen the three girls. The birthday party the other night. At least he saw them come in. Then he was hustled into a back room to discuss business with Dimitri and two thugs identified only as investors.

Loud music, copious amounts of alcohol and drugs. Anything could have happened to them. Yanking open the bottom desk drawer, he saw the unregistered firearm and thought about the cash he'd stashed in a safe deposit box downtown.

Maybe I should disappear.

Two weeks passed. The murder victim's body was shipped back to Russia and her grieving family. The girl in ICU had fallen into a coma and the third girl was still missing. The whole unit was on edge and the Mayor was currently ensconced in Voight's office with the door closed.

Hailey and Dante were in the locker room. She put on her jacket and closed the locker. "I don't have the energy to go to the gym tonight."

"Then don't," said Dante. "How about a drink instead?"

Hailey stared at her protégé. It wasn't the same as sharing a drink with Jay after a hard day. But Jay was thousands of miles away.

Hailey nodded. "Sure. Okay. But not Molly's. Don't want the noise and everybody coming over to talk."

"Understood."

Twenty minutes later, they were sitting in a corner booth at Reggie's Bar with their beers. Hailey looked around at the patrons drinking and playing darts. "How do you know this place?"

Dante was facing the front door. That way he could monitor the comings and goings. However, it was quite unlikely they'd run into any of their coworkers here. "Stumbled into it one night. Literally."

"Want to share that story?" asked Hailey with a grin.

"Maybe another time."

Hailey took a swig of her beer. "Fair enough."

It's now or never, decided Dante. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course," said Hailey.

"If I'm out of line, just tell me to mind my own damn business. What's the deal with you and Voight?" He'd wondered about their dynamic ever since he joined Intelligence.

"Me and Voight. Yeah, how much time do you have?"

"As long as it takes. I'm a good listener."

"Okay. Well, it's . . . complicated. You might say it's a work in progress."

"Aren't all relationships like that?"

"Seems like it," said Hailey. She looked away as she remembered that painful day when Jay announced he was going to Bolivia. I will not cry, I will not cry.

She drew herself up. "You deserve to know the kind of people you're working with. There were some situations several months ago where the lines got blurred and, uh, we crossed them."

"You and Voight?"

Hailey rubbed her forehead as if a headache was developing. "Dante, you cannot repeat any of this."

"I won't. I swear." He reached over and freed the beer bottle from her death grip and pushed it aside. Hailey barely noticed.

"We all did. Voight, Jay, me. You have to understand that Jay sees everything as either black or white, right or wrong. He doesn't operate well in that murky, grey area. Things came to a head one night. Jay and Voight got into an argument and Jay punched Voight in the face."

"Are you serious?" Dante was surprised. Halstead was always so calm and in control.

"I am. Jay and Voight have worked together for years. He loves Voight. But he said it's dangerous to get too close to him."

"Is that why he went back to the Army?"

"Yeah. Said he needed the structure and knowing which side he was on." Hailey sighed. "Now you know."

"But he left you to wallow in that grey area," said Dante, his irritation rising. "I shouldn't have pushed you on this. I'm sorry."

Hailey shook her head. "You know, it feels good to talk about it with someone who understands the unit. I couldn't do this with Will."

"Of course." Dante hated the defeated look on Hailey's face. He started to get up. "I think we need another drink."

"Dante, no. It's late. I need to get going."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. And you were right, you are a good listener."