Calm Before The Storm

Sneak and Peek

"Alright, we are going to try a sneak and peek on this apartment. Ruzek, Atwater, any signs of the car in the parking lot?" Voight called over the two- way radio.

"No sign of it, Sarg." Ruzek returned as they circled the parking lot.

"We toured the block, Sarg. No sign of it on the street either." Burgess called back from her car with Upton.

"We're going to try something a little different to see if he's home." Voight put the car in park on the street as he relayed his plan.

Knock knock knock. Hailey dressed with a hat and the local pizza place's t-shirt held a pizza in her hand and knocked at the door of the judges apartment.

"Hey, Tony's pizza delivery." She knocked again, listening for sounds inside the apartment.

"Excuse me miss. I think you have the wrong apartment number." An older gentleman came out of his apartment at the end of the hall. Staying in role, Hailey pretended to check the order.

"This is the apartment number it says. Why do you think it's the wrong one?" Hailey asked.

"I'm the landlord and the judge who rented that was just murdered. I saw it on the news. It's so sad, she was a lovely lady." The man sniffed.

"Are you sure there isn't anyone else staying there, maybe?" Hailey asked.

"I'm positive. I have been home all day and I would have known if someone had gone in there." Hailey nodded, still not convinced, she followed back to the man's apartment and whispered.

"I'm a police officer. Do you have any security cameras in the building? We have a suspect for the murder and we're checking if this apartment was used by the offender.

"No cameras ma'am but I can assure you no one has been in there. We share a wall and I haven't heard a thing. Here's the key if you want to check it." The landlord pulled a key off a rack on the wall and handed it to her.

"Sarg, the landlord does not believe anyone has been in the apartment. Send the team up and we'll clear it. I have the key." Hailey radioed the team. Within minutes the team joined Hailey and the apartment was cleared. It did not appear to have been used recently. It was barely furnished, clearly it was just a place to crash if the judge stayed late after work at the courthouse.

"Absolutely nothing, Sarg." Ruzek frowned as he opened the last empty cupboard. Voight's phone range and he picked it up

"Sarg, nothing on Harding's credit cards. He made one big withdrawal from his bank account a week ago, he must be paying cash for everything. I've found the car leaving the lot and I'm tracking it on street cams." Jay updated.

"Apartment is a bust too." Voight let his detective know. They hung up the phones as the team packed up the search.

Jay turned in his seat as Sergeant Trudy Platt came up behind him. His fever had gotten worse as had the pain in his abdomen. Still, he wasn't ready to abandon the team. He had his cell phone sitting on his desk with Will's number ready to dial but couldn't bring himself to call. Will would push him to come to the hospital to get checked. Trudy set a few pill bottles on Jay's desk.

"Hank told me to pick up a few things for you to get through the shift. How you doing? Found anything?" Trudy looked over his shoulder at the computer.

"I'm tracking the vehicle from camera to camera. It's tedious but so far it's staying on main roads with cameras." Jay clicked another button on his computer. Trudy squeezed his shoulder and started to walk back to the stairs.

"Hang on." Jay called out and sat up straighter. Trudy hurried back to his side. "He parked in the lot of police headquarters an hour ago. What is he doing there?"

The two continued to watch as Harding sat in the car, apparently waiting for something. They watched in horror as another car pulled up in the Deputy Superintendent designated spot. As Samantha Miller got out of her car Harding came up behind her and threw her up against the car. He smashed her face off the window and they watched her go limp. He threw her in the back seat of her own car before retrieving his gun from the car he had been using before driving away.

"Call Voight, I'm going to get the GPS from Miller's car." Jay asked Trudy and got right to work on the warrant for the GPS company.

"Hank, Jay's got something." Trudy put the call in right away. "Deputy Superintendent Miller has been abducted in the headquarters parking lot. Jay's already working on getting the GPS from her car. Harding must have realized we would find the car he was using and ditched it. He must not have realized we can track the GPS system in newer cars."

"I've got it." Jay stood up quickly and groaned as pain rocketed through his abdomen. He held his stomach and leaned on the desk breathing heavily for a minute until the worst of the pain passed. Trudy hung up the phone and put her hand on his shoulder.

"Am I taking you to the hospital? I can call a tack team to help with the takedown." Trudy couldn't believe how awful Jay had looked. He had sweat trailing down his temples. Heat radiated off of him.

"No, I have to see this through. I will go after we get this bastard, I promise." Jay pushed off the desk. He quickly took a couple of the pills praying it would bring his fever down enough to function for a few more hours. "He's out in West Roseland. Looks like a warehouse. I'll text the team the address then grab my rifle."

"I'm driving you Jay. I'll meet you downstairs. I'll get some patrol in sneaker cars to assist." Trudy sighed and headed towards the stairs.