Calm Before The Storm

Identity

Jay and Hailey walked up the stairs into the intelligence bullpen. Voight and Miller hurried out to meet them as Jay sat down heavily in his chair. Hailey went into the breakroom and grabbed an ice pack for the swelling on his eye.

"What happened?" Voight asked, hands on his hips.

"We left the courthouse to come back here. We heard shots fired and saw the shooter was on the roof of the building across the street. Hailey went inside while I went to go around back, we left Burgess to manage the scene." Jay started as he leaned back with the ice pack on his eye. "I heard footsteps on the fire escape and waited for him to drop before chasing him. He resisted arrest, we fought, he got a lucky punch and knocked me down. Then he went on a rant about how these women shouldn't be climbing ladders but staying at home and raising their kids themselves."

"You good? You need to go home?" Voight asked Jay with an eyebrow raised. He lifted the ice and turned Jay's face to look at the bruise starting.

"Not a chance, Sarg. I'm not going anywhere until we catch this guy." Jay insisted and put the ice pack back on. "He was about 6 foot, dark blonde hair, blue eyes, in his forties. Definitely military trained and experienced in hand to hand combat. He's got a wicked right hook."

"Wait a minute," Ruzek searched through files on his desk. "Like this?"

Adam held up a picture of a blonde man matching Jay's description.

"Ya that's him. One hundred percent." Jay stated without hesitation.

"Ryan Harding, Judge Wilson's son." Adam sat down at his computer and tapped away. "41, joined the army at 19 and was just discharged 6 months ago. There's really not a lot here about his career, it looks like he worked for a classified unit."

"Ruzek and Atwater, go to med and see if the victim survived. Upton, see what you can dig up on this guy. Halstead, call your military contacts and see if you can get any information out of them." Voight handed out their orders and they all hurried into motion.

Deputy Superintendent Miller marveled at the organized chaos. Everyone knew exactly what they needed to do. All the detectives and officers immediately were out the door or on phones and computers within seconds.

"You run a tight ship." Miller nodded to Voight, impressed.

"It's the only way to run intelligence. I hand pick promising patrolmen before they learn bad habits. That's how I got Burgess, Atwater and Ruzek. Dawson, Halstead and Upton are the only detectives I've allowed in my unit and that's only because I had seen how they worked or were vetted by someone I trust. I need people I can trust and think outside the box." Voight explained quickly, pointing out his officers as he spoke.

"I'll leave you to work. Do you want me to run a press conference with the shooter's face? Or will that cause him to escalate?" Miller asked as they walked towards the stairs.

"Don't put his picture out yet. He seems highly unstable and putting that pressure may cause him to do something drastic. He's military trained, he may try a mass bombing for maximum damage. You can state that we have a person of interest." Voight suggested after a moment of thought.

"Will do. Keep me up to date, Sergeant. I'll be here for another half hour or so downstairs organizing the press conference." Miller shook his hand and headed down the stairs.

*************************

Ruzek and Atwater entered the Emergency room at Chicago med. Maggie was at the desk and looked up as they approached.

"Hey guys, I expect you are here about the shooting at the courthouse? Prosecutor Tamara Whalen. She's in surgery right now with Dr Marcel. If you want to wait in the waiting room, I'll let you know as soon as I hear anything."

"Thank you so much Maggie. Always a pleasure to see your smiling face." Atwater smiled at her with a wink. They started to walk back to the waiting room.

"Hold on gents." Maggie called them back. She picked up her buzzing phone. "Maggie here. She didn't make it? Too much damage to the heart to repair. Alright I'll tell the officers, they are standing right in front of me but I'm sure they will want to talk to you as well."

Ruzek sighed and dropped his head as he overheard the conversation. Atwater shot off a text to Jay.

"You heard all that? Dr Marcel will be down in a few minutes to talk to you but she didn't make it." Maggie hung up the phone and moved them to the family room.