Chapter 21

People say you shouldn't bring a knife to a gunfight. But did they ever consider a five-lb. red cylinder? In the absence of Hailey's Glock, the fire extinguisher made a fairly decent weapon. It was unexpected and she had already managed to put down one suspect with it.

She kept the Russian's gun trained on him while she laid the fire extinguisher down. "Girl. Where is the girl?" she asked. "I'm short on patience and time here."

He was still rubbing his wrist and cursing under his breath. "Around the corner," he choked out. His eyes were closed as he tried to clear the foam from them.

Suddenly, Hailey saw a door ajar on the opposite wall. Stepping around her suspect, she found a small bathroom. She looked back at him as he writhed on the floor.

"Take off your belt."

"What?"

"Belt. Now! Unless you want, well, you don't want to know what I might do."

Reluctantly, he grunted and twisted to get it out of the loops. Hailey then used it to secure his arms. She motioned with the gun to the bathroom. "Get in there and stay put. If I see you again, you may get a bullet between your eyes."

He gave her an incredulous look. "Dammit, lady. You sure you're not FSB?"

She slammed the door shut and grabbed one of the folding chairs to wedge under the doorknob. It was pretty flimsy, but it might give her a slight advantage.

She darted around the corner to the right and quickly searched the two rooms there. Nothing. Turning and going the opposite way, she found the first room also empty. But in the corner of the next room there was a cot pushed up against the wall. A small figure huddled under a thin blanket.

Hailey approached slowly. "Irina," she whispered. There was no acknowledgement or movement.

"Irina. My name is Hailey. I'm Chicago police. I'm gonna get you out of here. Are you able to walk?"

The girl slowly turned over and sat up. Her right arm was chained to the standpipe that ran up the wall.

Hailey sighed. That's just great.

Trudy relayed the new intel to Voight. "Thanks, Trudy. We're practically on top of that location right now. Tell Dante to stay near the phone in case Hailey is able to call back."

"You got it. And good luck."

Hailey checked the clip of the gun. Two rounds left. She had to make a decision: Try to free Irina or save the rounds to hold off an unknown number of bad guys? Bad guys who probably have more than just handguns.

She rubbed the side of her head where a large bump had sprung up. Another wave of nausea threatened to overtake her. She inhaled deeply. Sure hope the team is on the way.

Decision made she told Irina, "Turn your head. This will be loud."

Irina nodded nervously and turned and ducked her head. She flinched as Hailey fired the rounds at the chain. After the two of them gave a couple of hard yanks, the chain separated from the pipe.

"Spasibo, spasibo," said Irina." She stumbled as she tried to stand, but Hailey caught her. "Those bastards stole my clothes." She tried to cover herself with the rough blanket.

Hailey was wearing a turtleneck sweater under her sweatshirt. She peeled off the sweatshirt and gave it to the shivering girl. Irina looked at her with tears in her eyes. "You are good person."

"Do you know how many men are here?" asked Hailey.

"Nyet. Four, maybe five different ones. They come, they go," shrugged Irina. "My friends? Where are they?"

Before Hailey could answer, gunfire erupted outside. Hailey shoved Irina into the corner behind the door. "Don't move. I'll come back for you."

"Da. Careful! Be careful," whispered Irina.

There was a lot of shouting and untold rounds fired. But even in the midst of the violence, Hailey recognized the voices of her teammates. Finally, she heard the gravelly voice of Voight as he strode down the hall.

"Hailey! Are you here, Hailey? Call out! Hailey!"

"I'm here, Sarge," she yelled as she stepped around the corner.

"What happened?"

"I'm okay," she insisted. "I stuck a guy in the bathroom over there. Don't know if he's still there." She pointed to the room.

Kevin was coming up the hall. "Really good to see you, Upton."

"Good to see you guys, too. Can you check on that perp?"

"I'm on it," said Kevin.

"I found Irina. She needs to go to Med," said Hailey.

Voight keyed his radio. "Roll multiple ambos to my location. Multiple offenders down." He looked at Hailey. "And you need to get checked out, as well."

"I'm good."

"I'm not going to argue with you, Hailey. That is an order."

She returned his stare, then gave a curt nod. "Copy."

Sirens were heard in the distance and within minutes there was a flurry of activity. The handcuffed suspects were loaded up and driven away. Hailey helped Irina into the last ambo. "I'm coming with you, okay? You won't be alone."

"What about my friends? I want to see them." She was on the verge of tears again.

"We'll talk about them later. I promise. But right now, you need to let these folks help you."

Kevin was marching bathroom guy out. Hailey climbed out of the ambo and walked toward them. She hated to admit it, but she felt a bit wobbly.

"He was right where you said. And guess what? He's really worried about losing his pants. I said, 'Dude, you have way bigger problems than that.'"

He glared at Hailey, but said nothing.

"We could cut him some slack. He did reveal where Irina was," noted Hailey.

"Detective, are you riding with us? We're ready to roll out," called one of the paramedics.

"Go," said Voight. "I'll be by later to check on you." As the ambo drove away, Voight took out his cell and called Will Halstead.

"Can you at least keep her overnight? She took a hard hit to the head. I don't want her trying to sign herself out."

Will chuckled. "I don't have to tell you how stubborn she and my brother are. But I'll do what I can."

"Thanks, Doc."

At the District

There were whoops of joy and relief and high fives as the team stomped up the stairs to the bullpen.

"We found them! We found Hailey and the missing girl," said Adam. "Woo-hoo!"

"Where is Hailey?" asked Dante anxiously. He hated that he'd been stuck here and not out searching for her.

"Hailey and Irina are at Med," said Voight as he brought up the rear. "Hailey suffered a blow to the head. We don't know the details. I asked Will to try to hold her there overnight."

"Can we visit her?" asked Dante.

"We should give the staff a couple hours to run tests," said Kim. They all nodded in agreement.

Voight scrubbed a hand down his face. "Let's call it a day. I know we're all beat."

Computers were shut down and desks somewhat tidied and the team left. Only Trudy remained. "Don't know about you, but I could use a drink," said Voight.

"Sounds good to me." She followed him into his office and sat down.

Voight opened a bottom drawer and pulled out a bottle and two glasses. He poured some whiskey and they savored the first swallow. Then he spoke. "I'm glad we found that Russian girl, but honestly, I think I'm more relieved we got Hailey back."

Trudy nodded knowingly. "I get it. It's different when it's one of our own that's missing." She took another sip. "We've lost so many over the years . . . in various ways."

"Never gets any easier," said Voight.

"Nope."

Both were thoughtful for a moment. "I was afraid I might have to place a call to Jay. And I was not looking forward to that conversation," said Voight.

"Thank goodness it didn't come to that," said Trudy. "Will you be going to Med?"

"Yeah, later."

"Okay. Thanks for the drink."

Voight nodded. "Any time."

Chicago Med

Voight walked into the waiting room and found his team and people they knew from Firehouse 51 talking quietly. "Anything?" he asked.

"Will said they would run the usual battery of tests," said Kim. "He'll update us as soon as possible."

Voight sat down and only had to wait five minutes before Will walked up. The group surged to their feet.

"Hey guys, Hailey suffered a mild concussion." He looked directly at Voight. "She'll be admitted for at least one night. She's experiencing nausea, vomiting, blurred vision and in her words, 'a monster headache.'"

"But she'll be okay, right?" asked Adam.

"Should be fine. However, it might take a few days for everything to completely resolve." Again, he made eye contact with Voight, who gave a small nod.

The group visibly relaxed. "Could we see her, maybe for a couple minutes? I know she needs to rest," said Kim.

Will loved the concern and camaraderie of these people. "Tomorrow would be better. I'll tell her that all of you were here. That will encourage her."

Voight looked around at his team. "You heard the Doc. Let's give Hailey some space."

Everyone shuffled toward the exit, but Voight hung back. "Will? Do you think I should try to get word to Jay?"

"I asked her that, but she said not to distract him from his mission. However, she might feel differently tomorrow."

Will could sense the tension and distress in Voight. "Look, if you promise not to tell the others, I'll give you 10 minutes with her. I don't want them ganging up on me."

"Understood. They're a tough bunch," said Voight with a small smile.

"And you wouldn't want it any other way," added Will.