Keeping It in the Family (Linstead)

Chapter 43

It wasn't Halstead's place to talk to other people in the Intelligence team about things that he learned through his relationship with Lindsay. For that reason, he had kept his mouth shut about Raquel Gonzalez's appearance at her house, and the resulting conversation. When and what to tell the group was Lindsay's decision.

It would have to wait anyway, because Lindsay was away to meet with Superintendent Kelton, while the rest of the team had been called out to a hit and run that had resulted in the death of a teenage boy. There was a strong possibility that it was murder, and gang-related.

After the team had investigated the crime scene, Olinsky began issuing instructions for how he wanted the case to be worked.

"Purrazzo and I need to head over and see her new CI," Halstead said to the temporary team leader. "We've got the sign off for her first payment, and we need to get her officially registered as a CI. Might as well do it while we're out, get it over and done with."

Olinsky nodded slightly. "Okay. The back to the station as soon as you can."

"You got it," Halstead said, heading for the car he had driven to the scene. Purrazzo walked with him.

"Think there's much mileage in this?" she asked.

"Mileage in a hit and run? With puns like that you're going to have to find a new partner."

She laughed. "I didn't intend the pun. So, mileage or no?"

"Too early to tell," Halstead said as they reached their car. He got into the driver's seat. "It might not be gang-related. Even if it's not, the kid is dead. Someone killed him and fled the scene. But if it is gang-related, cases like this can sometimes be like kicking an ant's nest over. You don't know how many we might get scurrying out of the dark once we get into it."

"Interesting."

Halstead slowly drove the car out of the crime scene, two uniforms lifting the police tape up for them.

"So, Bliss gets her ten grand," Purrazzo said as the car accelerated up the street.

"Yes, she does. Now, when we speak to her, you need to make it clear to her that this CI arrangement isn't just about her giving us information she wants to give us. We might also go to her for information that we want, and she will be expected to provide it."

"Understood. I think now we've got her on the hook we've done the hard part."

Halstead nodded. "Yes, getting them to agree to being a CI is often tricky. Once they do, they rarely go back on it. They like the money, and they worry that we might drop them in the shit if they turn their backs on us."

She looked at him. "Would we do that?"

"No, but they don't know that, not for sure anyway."

"Ah," Purrazzo said. There was a short, relaxed silence between them before she spoke again. "So, you can't keep swerving around the topic. We're going to talk about you and Sergeant Lindsay."

"Oh, we are?"

"Yeah, we are. That's what partners do."

Halstead realised he couldn't argue with that. It was what partners did. And in any event he had stumbled into getting into relationship talk first that night at Molly's when he had found out about Purrazzo and Sylvie Brett.

"Alright, fine," he conceded. "Erin and I have been dating pretty much since she moved back to Chicago and took charge of Intelligence."

"Wow, you really moved quick," Purrazzo said with a big smile on her face.