Turn Back Time

Chapter 15 - For Old Time's Sake

Chicago was a city of two extremes. Where there was brutal violence, there was euphonic peace. Where there were acres of lush foliage, there were miles heavy concrete. And where there was arctic cold in the winter months, there was an oppressive heat in the summer that had Kate desperately yanking at the heavy kevlar vest strapped to her body the moment the Intelligence Unit stepped into the merciful shade of the garage beneath the precinct, her nose crinkling at the uncomfortable sensation of her t-shirt sticking to her sweat-slicked skin.

"That went well." She grumbled, tossing the vest onto a nearby table as the rest of the unit trudged in behind her, each of them looking as dishevelled and visibly frustrated as she felt.

They had been chasing the prime suspect on their most recent homicide case for the last three days and, every time they thought they were closing in, somehow the bastard still managed to evade capture. Ordinarily it was a case that wouldn't even be close to their radar but, as the victim was an acquaintance of Brian Kelton and needed to the solved fast, the Deputy Supe had naturally turned to the Intelligence Sergeant to get the job done. It was safe to say that being outsmarted by an idiot who was careless enough to leave both his DNA and the thirty eight calibre Smith and Wesson littered with his finger prints at the scene was not sitting well with any of them and, to top it all off, they were once again one member down with Erin being drafted to DC for yet another assignment. It killed Hank to let her go without any assurances that she'd be safe but it was clear that, after the miscarriage and Jay's impromptu nuptials, she needed the headspace that the regular assignments out of state provided.

"Only a matter of time until he slips up." Hailey replied, shrugging out of her own vest with a sigh of relief, bracing her hands on her narrow waist as the unit circled around the table now covered with heavy black kevlar.

As they slipped deeper into July, the temperature had been steadily rising with the mercury regularly hitting a hundred degrees by midday. Gone were the jackets and sweatshirts in favour of short-sleeved t-shirts in a desperate attempt to keep cool while out patrolling the streets beneath the baking-hot sun.

"Guy's like a damn ferret. Just..." Adam made a magician's disappearing act motion with his hands and, truth be told, he wasn't wrong. They'd had Anthony Dolan cornered when he somehow managed to wriggle his lean frame through a tiny gap in a wrought iron gate and disappeared into early afternoon the haze without a backwards glance but their assessment of their suspect's evasion techniques was cut short when Trudy appeared in the doorway of the garage.

"The tap you put on the girlfriend's phone just payed off. He wants her to meet him at the Red Bridge tonight at ten o'clock."

It wasn't a venue Kate was familiar with but, from the knowing look that Trudy shared with Hank, she could only assume that there was a case file somewhere with their sergeant's name attached.

"Years back, Antonio got into some hot water with a diamond dealer." Hank explained, casting a withering glare at Ruzek who looked as though all of his Christmases had come early. "Case led us to a sex club called the Red Bridge."

"A sex club?" Kate clarified, both brows lifting in surprise at the thought of the experienced ex-vice detective managing to get himself tangled in a web of debauchery that he should have known better than anyone to stay well away from.

"It's a place where people go to have se-"

"Yeah, gathered that Ruz." She interrupted with a roll of her eyes. "Just doesn't sound like Antonio, that's all. What kind of sex club are we talking here?"

"Membership only." Jay replied with a casual shrug, confirming her assumption that he had been one of the detectives leading point on the last undercover gig. "Light BDSM, swingers, power play...but mainly just Chicago's elite paying a small fortune to indulge in a kink for voyuerism."