Calm Before The Storm

Leads

"The second victim didn't make it." Jay called out to Hailey and Voight as Burgess came up the stairs into the bullpen. "And my military connection isn't giving me anything. Apparently he doesn't have high enough clearance but he's trying to get me in touch with someone who does."

"After backup arrived and the victim was taken out I went up to the roof of the building and recovered the shell casing. I've already brought it to the lab. The guy left no other signs of being there, he's a ghost." Burgess divulged.

"Tamara Whalen, one of the top prosecutors. Married, 39 years old and has 3 kids 12, 10 and 8. Died in surgery." Hailey added the information to the board.

"Dig into any connection between these two women and why they were specifically targeted. We know who our shooter is but is there a reason in particular he chose these two. Maybe we can ID the next target before he goes after them." Voight pointed to the board.

"I'm also going through cameras by the courthouse Sarg. Harding couldn't have gotten on public transit with the gun case. He must have had a car parked close by. If we find that, maybe we can figure out where he's holed up." Jay tapped at his keyboard trying to ignore the low burning fire that continued to burn in his abdomen since the fight. They all worked the few leads they had trying to get ahead of the sniper.

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"Doc's had no chance of saving Whalen." Ruzek and Atwater came up the stairs taking off their jackets an hour later. "It's a miracle she made it to the hospital. Bullet severed her artery."

"Forensics just called. The bullets from the two shootings are a confirmed match." Upton hung up the phone. Jay suddenly pushed off from his desk and headed to the locker room. Voight watched him go, deciding whether he needed to be concerned or not. Ruzek hung up his jacket and checked the messages on his phone. Several minutes went by and Voight stayed in the bullpen. Something was starting to nag at him. Jay hadn't been himself since the fight, he was quieter than usual and pale. He went over to Ruzek's desk and leaned in.
"Go check on Jay, something's off that he's not telling me." Without hesitation Adam got up and went to the locker room. As he opened the door he heard vomiting in the adjoining bathroom. Trying to be respectful he went to his locker and opened it, rummaging through his stuff. Jay came out of the bathroom and turned on the tap of the sink, not seeing Adam behind the lockers. He leaned on the sink before washing his hands and face in cold water.

"You alright?" Adam asked as he closed his locker and came around the corner.

"I'm not feeling great. I think I must have a stomach flu or something. I'm fighting through it, don't worry." Jay didn't seem surprised that he was there checking on him. He dried his hands and face on a towel in his locker.

"You're paler than usual actually. Are you sure..." Adam started to say before getting cut off.

"I'm not leaving this case. I will go see my brother when we catch Harding. Something isn't right but I can handle it." Jay insisted. Adam nodded, taking in Jay's determined expression. He passed him a bottle of water then left him to brush his teeth before heading back to the bullpen. He sent off a quick text to Voight

<<He's sick, possible flu but wants to push through.>>

Voight read the text and nodded before taking a deep breath. Jay was his most seasoned fighter and best marksman. He didn't want to lose him when they found Harding but if he was unreliable Voight may be forced to call in SWAT for support. Not his first choice as they liked to fight for control of the case.

"Sarg, I've got something." Jay called from his desk a half hour later. He had gone right back on the hunt for a vehicle after he'd cleaned himself up. Voight got up and stood behind Jay as he pulled up a parking lot video. They watched the grainy video of a man with a gun case run into the middle of a parking lot, throw the case in the back seat before getting into the car and driving away. "It's not a great camera, it pixels out when I try to get the plate but if we can look for this make and model leaving the parking lot, we can figure out where it went."

"I got it." Kim had jumped on her computer and used the address of the parking lot to search for the car. She pulled up a street camera with the car pulling out of the lot and was able to pause and zoom in to read the plate. She read off the plate while Jay pulled up the owner.

"Judge Vanessa Wilson." Jay read off. "The bastard is driving his mom's car after he killed her. I'll look up to see if she has any other vehicles registered to her name. He seems smart enough to cover his tracks."

"I'll check what properties she has, maybe he's holed up in an apartment somewhere." Ruzek started the search and pulled up one possibility owned by the judge besides her home. A small apartment near the courthouse.

"Hit it, go do a sneak and peek. Do not go in, remember this guy is extremely dangerous. Jay, hold up." The rest of the team grabbed jackets and headed towards the stairs. Voight sat on the edge of the desk and looked at his detective.

"I want you to stay here and see if you can follow that car on the street cameras and find out where it went." Voight sat back and waited for the argument.

"Why Sarg? I swear I'm fine." Jay tried to argue but he was a tiny bit relieved. He did not want to waste his energy if it was empty but also didn't want to be left behind in case Harding was there.

"Jay, I've known you a long time. I know you are committed to the investigation. I also know you aren't yourself. I've never seen you so pale, even after you were shot." Voight placed the back of his hand on Jay's face. "You have a fever. Did you forget I had a stubborn son too? I need you to keep working on this as long as you are well enough to. I've got lots of door kickers. I need you to keep following the evidence with your intuition and gut. I may need your eyes if we need a marksman later. So conserve your energy for now; unless you need to go home?"

Jay sighed but nodded. "I want to stay and finish this Sarg. But you're right, I'm not feeling great. I'll dig into Harding's accounts to see if he rented a room in town. Then I'll follow the car we found on street cams."

Voight nodded and followed the rest of the team out of the bullpen.