Keeping It in the Family (Linstead)

Chapter 27

Halstead found the Intelligence office empty when he walked in the next morning. He knew Olinsky was in because they had passed each other in the station's entrance area. Alvin had been heading out somewhere, talking on his phone. Purrazzo was in too, he saw, as her coat was on the back of her chair and a Starbucks cup was on her desk, with Deonna written on it but spelled wrong. He imagined she got that quite a lot. He tossed his keys on his desk and walked around it to sit down.

"Purrazzo has gone to the shooting range," came Zelina Vega's voice from her office.

"How did you know it was me?" Halstead called back.

"You throw your keys on the desk like that every morning. Apparently I'm the detective among us."

Halstead smiled. There was always a bit of Latina sass about Vega, and he liked it. "You wish," he called through to her. "You do what you're good at, sitting there drinking coffee all day and installing Windows 7."

"Windows 7?" Vega laughed. "What decade did you turn up from? Oh, Purrazzo said if you want to learn how to shoot, go join her."

"Purrazzo said that?" he asked doubtfully.

"Well, they might not have been her exact words," Vega admitted, and they both laughed.

Figuring there was some time to go before the official start of his shift, Halstead decided that yes, he would go and find his partner at the shooting range. Curiosity played a part in it. He was no slouch with an assault rifle, no one in Intelligence was, but the hype about Purrazzo's military experience suggested she was a step above. He wanted to see for himself if it was true.

Just then, Ruzek and Burgess walked in. Greetings were exchanged, then Halstead got down to pressing matters.

"Kim, how did it go with Jillian yesterday evening?"

"It didn't," Burgess grumbled. "No matter what we try with her, she just sits there repeating that she doesn't know anything about anyone being buried in her garden, and denying any knowledge of anyone ever coming to harm in the house, including her daughter."

"What about that horrific video Purrazzo and I found?"

"She said her husband liked to video her having sex with girls when they were younger. Said you'll probably find more videos, but everyone in them was there consensually, and nothing was done that they didn't agree too."

"Bullshit," Halstead said heatedly. "That girl, Beth, was terrified and in pain, struggling and trying to get free."

Burgess nodded without much enthusiasm. "Right. And if we were trying to pin an assault charge on her, we might be getting somewhere. As sad as it sounds, if we want something that starts making her for murder, we need to find Beth or someone from one of the other videos in that garden."

It was awful, but it might be true, Halstead had to acknowledge.

"What do you Lindsay's going to have us do next?" Burgess wondered.

"Me? Probably cleaning the canteen or something," Ruzek grumbled. "I don't think I've played a decent part in a case since she took charge. Feels like she wants me off the team because I stood firm about Kim coming back."

"She doesn't want you off the team," Halstead assured him. He believed it too. However, he also believed it was true that Lindsay was treating Ruzek badly because of the whole Burgess thing. And that was something she needed to stop doing.

"I don't know. But I can tell you one thing: If she wants me gone, she's going to have to fire me. And if she fires me, she'd better have a good reason."