The Arrangement | Jay Halstead

Chapter 15 | Hypocrite

Part 15

"The violence in Chicago has now touched elected officials. Outspoken Alderman James Burton of the 24th Ward was gunned down this morning in the financial district" A reporter dramatically said as she was filming the news.

"I hate reporters" Anna grumbled, leaving Hailey to chuckle as the two walked up to Al and Voight. The team was put into the whole case and Voight asked for witnesses, but none had come forward.

"Yeah, this place is really dead after hours, Sarge. I doubt anybody was here" Jay said as he walked up behind Anna.

"Pockets turned inside and out. Wallet, watch and cell phone are gone" Novick said. "Any signs of a struggle?" Anna asked.

"Nope, looks like a robbery gone wrong" Novick said. "Know what Alderman Burton was doing down here?" Voight asked.

"Drinking at the Crown Pub. Bartender said he was with a banker, Rudy Finnegan, till closing" Novick answered. "We'll go talk to him" Anna said and Hailey followed her.

"Hi, Detective Lorenzi" A guy called out, both Anna and Hailey paused and Anna turned around. "Hi, O'Hara, whats up?" Anna said and smiled when she saw the officer who had been greeting her every time he saw her.

"Not much, it was nice to see you at Molly's the other night" Harry said and smiled. "Oh, yeah. Sure, it's always fun there" Anna said.

"I hope I'll see you there tonight?" Harry said and smiled. "Maybe, depends on work" Anna said, she got chills from the smiles Harry O'Hara sent her. Anna always got chills around him, she couldn't explain it.

He showed up at odd times and he always seemed to want to talk to her. But she didn't know the guy, he was snoopy and it felt like he was watching her at times.

"Right, right, well I'll see you around" Harry said and Anna nodded and faked a smile when he left. "Let's go" Anna told Hailey and hurried into a car.

"Well, that was entertaining," Hailey retorted. "What's his deal?" Hailey added when she raced off from the scene.

"I don't know, he's trying to be nice, but it's too much" Anna said with a grimace. "Sounds like he wants a piece of you" Hailey snorted.

"Yeah, not gonna happen" Anna retorted and gushed as another wave of chills warned her.

The two found Rudy Finnegan and met with him, and asked him questions. "I was with Alderman Burton for about two hours. He wanted me to invest in some urban revitalization project in his ward" Rudy explained.

"At midnight?" Anna questioned. "Oh, yeah, he insisted that we meet after dinner. He seemed desperate for cash" Rudy told both Anna and Hailey as they walked.

"What do you mean?" Anna asked. "Well, he offered to pay 15% interest. That's double the market rate. We're friends, but that made me nervous. So, I, uh, passed. Oh" Rudy said and started typing away on his phone.

"Then I got in my Uber at 2:01 at the bar, and Burton went down the street" Rudy said. Anna glanced down at his phone screen and saw the details of the Uber ride.

"You see anything suspicious?" Hailey asked him. "No, btu there was a guy at the bar earlier, um, African-American, came in, looked around for a few minutes, left without ordering" Rudy told them.

"Any details on that? Age, height?" Hailey asked. "Eh, late 20s, average height and build" Rudy said and then his phone started ringing.

"You think of anything else, give us a call, okay?" Anna said and handed Rudy her card when he answered his phone. "Yeah" Rudy said and walked off.