Keeping It in the Family (Linstead)

Chapter 91

By the time Halstead and Purrazzo got to the abandoned office building it was surrounded by squad cars, all without their lights flashing. He saw that Lindsay and Gonzalez were already there. He wasn't surprised, since they weren't all that far from the hospital. Atwater was also there already.

Halstead parked up, and he and Purrazzo hurried over to join the group as soon as they had their bullet proof vests on and had fetched their assault rifles from the trunk. When they got there, Lindsay got right down to business.

"Right, the car the man we strongly believe to be Styles was last seen in is parked on the other side of this building. The place is currently abandoned, as you can see. It's possible this is where he's been hiding out. There has been no sight or sound of him since we had units on the scene, so we don't know if he's here or not. The five of us are going to go in and clear the place. If he's here, we take him alive if possible, but no one gets shot, understand? We make sure Z is the one and only member of this team he hurts."

Halstead noticed Gonzalez still obviously hurting at the mention of what had happened to her fiancée. He questioned whether she should be on the scene, but he wasn't the boss.

"Gonzalez and I will enter from this side. The other three of you go around back and enter there. Watch each other's asses, and be on the lookout for traps. We have no idea how long Styles may have been here, or whether or not he has taken steps to defend his position."

"Got it," Halstead said.

"Let's move. Tell me when you're in position, and we'll breach on my mark."

Halstead led his group of three around the side of the building with Purrazzo right behind him and Atwater behind her.

"I'm not sure Raquel should be here," she ventured.

"Focus on doing your job, Purrazzo," Halstead said.

"Right. Sorry," she replied, chastened.

They didn't take long to make it to the office building's rear entrance, which was actually a steel fire escape door. It had been pried open, possibly by uniformed officers.

"In position," Halstead radioed to Lindsay.

"Breach," she ordered.

Halstead made his way into the building. There was going to be a lot of rooms to clear, he knew, most of them former office spaces. Using hand signals, he silently directed Purrazzo and Atwater in directions he wanted them to go in. The only way to carry out the mission efficiently was to split up.

Halstead started clearing rooms, seeing nothing that hinted at AJ Styles being present. He did see that homeless people had lived in the building, but the crap they had left behind clearly hadn't been touched in some time.

After a couple of minutes, he convened with Purrazzo and Atwater at the bottom of a staircase leading up to the next floor.

"Clear down here. Let's go up," Atwater said, taking the lead this time.

After heading up the stairs, Halstead set about clearing more rooms. More offices, and what had been a canteen again provided no evidence of Styles.

Out of nowhere, two gun shots in quick succession made him jump. They hadn't come from nearby. They sounded like they had come from the near the front of the building, and possibly from a higher floor. He got right on the radio, his concern more personal than professional.

"Erin? Are you okay?"

"Styles is down," Lindsay replied after a moment. "Front of the building, second floor. Be careful on your way up here."