Voight sat down by Mouse, an old school cop in an office filled with present day tech. Computer screens and keyboards the only things in his realm of understanding and that just barely. He might have looked out of place to anyone who knew him but it only took seconds for Voight's essence to overwhelm a space.
Mouse nodded towards the screen in front of Voight. "I have that computer set up for the call. It will record automatically and I have it set up to automatically take screen shots every 5 seconds."
"I pinged Jay's phone and its last know coordinates were on the same block as Molly's and then there is nothing."
Voight exhaled in frustration, "Alright let's make this call."
XXXXXXX
Again, there was audio before visual. No particular sounds came through the speakers, just the quiet background hiss of an empty space.
When the video came on, it was the same room. Halstead was against the wall, his knees pulled up towards his chest, one arm resting on his knees, the other cuffed and anchored to the floor at the base of the wall.
He looked awake but out of it. With his head resting against the wall, you could see his eyes were open but not focused, either from the drugs, being sick or both. A scrape on his chin and the beginnings of a bruise on his right cheek the only signs he had been in a fight. He was wearing a long sleeved tee. They had taken his hoodie as well as his shoes and socks.
Voight and Mouse took it all in. Mouse's quiet words echoed his thoughts. "Aw, shit...Jay."
Nothing happened as they watched Jay struggle to clear his head. He rubbed his eyes, blinking them a few times when something drew his attention forward and to his left.
"Fuuu...." was all they heard as the line went dead.
XXXXXXX
Erin opened the door to Jay's apartment with her key. It looked the same as when she was here a couple hours ago but they took a more detailed look around.
"I don't see anything out of place. It looks like he never made it home last night."
She reached behind the nightstand and grabbed the key hidden there. With a shrug at Al to answer the obvious question on his face; of how did you know that was there, she unlocked the top drawer in the stand by his bed.
"His gun and badge aren't here. He never made it home."
XXXXXXX
Later they were all back in the bullpen. Roman and Burgess the last to arrive, Roman carrying a stack of case files.
"Well?" Erin asked.
Voight met the question without emotion. "He looks ok. He's in the same room."
"But he looks good?" It was more of a statement than a question.
"He looks okay Ruzek."
They knew Voight's cold, detached answer was a defense mechanism. He wouldn't show them his fears, they were there and they all knew it. But they also knew they had to have clear heads if they were going to get Halstead back alive. They would follow Voight's lead.
Voight's phone chimed. "Ya Mouse?"
"Sending up the video. Lindsay's computer."
An exhaled "Jay..." from Erin was the only remark when they were done watching it.
The one thing they all noticed and what probably scared them the most, was there were no instructions when to call again. No one else had been in the video except Jay.
Voight took his place at the front of the bullpen, hand in pockets, feet apart. His typical, 'doesn't take bullshit' stance.
"What did ya get?"
Al spoke up. "It looks like he didn't make home last night. Gun and badge aren't there. Nothing looks disturbed in his apartment and his car isn't in it's spot."
Erin took over. "The neighbors that were home didn't see or hear anything unusual. None of them had seen Jay that night. His mail was still in the box. The manager showed us the video from the garage and lobby, from last night when he left the bar until this morning. Nothing's there."
"Antonio?"
"I talked to Gaby. There was nothing out of the ordinary. She saw Jay leave but no one followed him out. Severide came in right after Jay left. When we called him he said Jay wasn't headed for the the parking lot so he probably parked on the street.
"They only have three cameras outside the bar. Front door, back door, and parking lot. There was nothing on them. But the front and back door only cover about ten yards in either direction so they could have grabbed him when he was out of camera range."
Voight gave his update. "Halstead's CI is in the wind. Whether he ran because of the information he provided for the bust or this, is unknown. Platt put out a Person Of Interest on him so hopefully we can pick him up."
Just then Voight's phone chimed again. "Go Mouse."
"I've got Jay's phone. It's located between 2231 and 2239 N. Shore Dr."
Everyone moved to suit up but Voight stopped them. He and Olinsky exchanging a look.
"Al, Antonio check it. Get crime scene down there."
"But Boss, shouldn't we all go? Jay could be there." A confused Atwater asked.
Erin obviously in agreement, "pissed beyond belief" clearly registering on her face.
"He's not there."
Al quietly said looking down. Before anyone could speak up, Olinsky raised his head and finished his thought.
"That's were Jay shot Bembenek's brother."
