Detective Ln; An Adam Ruzek Love Story

Natural Born Storyteller

Yn's POV

"Tender-age white child found dead in a black neighborhood. We're still waiting on the ME, but responding EMTs indicate that, um... kid's neck was snapped. He was stabbed in the abdomen three times" Adam said. "And his wrists and ankles were bound with sailor's knots, for what that's worth" Al said. "His name was Jeremy Dolan. He was reported missing 36 hours ago from Rogers Park. He was eight years old. His parents are Richard and Rochelle. They're waiting at the morgue to ID the body" I say.

"Rogers Park... that's three miles north of that house" Kevin said. "Well, he was probably killed elsewhere, transported to the scene. We got no eyeball witnesses of the body being placed, though" Adam said. "Do we know who owns that house" Jay asked. "Yep, local real-estate investors. It's one of 150 properties that they're buying and fixing up in that area" Kevin said. "I'll see if there's anything there" Erin said. "All right, we start in Rogers Park" Voight said. "I want to be there when they ID him. Al, you want to come with" Antonio asked. "Yeah" Al replied.

"Adam and I will go ask the people in the neighborhood if they heard or saw anything" I say. "You guys can meet up with us when you have time."Alright. Get on it" Voight said. Adam and I then drove to Rogers Park and started interviewing people.

"The night of the disappearance, did you hear anything" I ask. "No, we didn't hear anything" a woman said. "No screaming, shouting, slamming doors" Adam asked. "I would've gone and checked. We watched each other's kids. These were good people." "I understand. Um, were your windows open? This would've been 6:30, 7:00 Saturday night" I say. "They were open. It was warm. And my hearing's perfect" the woman said. "Is anybody a little too nice, like maybe extra candy on Halloween kind of thing?" "There's no one here who's too friendly. They'd get dealt with. We didn't hear anything" the husband said.

Back at the district, Kevin brought up 2 cardboard boxes full of files. "Special Investigations Unit sent over the files for every registered sex offender in the vicinity of Rogers Park" Kevin said. "The ME found tissue under Jeremy's fingernails. Little guy went down fighting. Said no sign of sexual assault, but that doesn't mean he couldn't have been made to..." Erin said. "I don't know... this block he was snatched from, they're pretty tight-knit. Seems like an odd pool to pick your victims from" Adam said. "But if it was about sex, there's no logic. It's just impulse." "Hey, this guy moved onto the block last year. He's in from Salt Lake City. His PO logged a complaint. He never registered in Chicago" I say. "What's his name" Erin asked. "Darren Woodhull."

So everyone went their separate ways to find another lead, and Adam and I were now in the office alone. Adam came and sat down at his desk which who's side was attached to the front of mine. "You smell really good today" Adam said out of nowhere. "What perfume scent is that?" "Uh, vanilla and Cinnamon" I say. "Well you should wear that more often. I like it" Adam said. I laughed. "Good to know I guess."

Voight then brought in Rochelle, the mom of the missing boy, and Adam and I went into his office with them to talk to her. "So we have an update for you, a person of interest" I say. "Who" Rochelle asked. "The same person you thought of before you set foot in my district" Voight said. "You know, neighbors say they didn't hear any screams when your son went missing. He didn't scream because he knew Darren Woodhull" Adam said. "At number 2336, yeah, everybody knows him. He's a pervert, and he did time for it" Rochelle said.

"He's missing" Voight said. "Well maybe he's on the run." "Rochelle... where's your husband? If he intervened, we need to know about it" Adam said. "I'm not following" Rochelle said. Adam and Rochelle kept talking back and forth at the same time until Adam quieted down. "You want answers. So do I. We don't owe you people anything" Rochelle said. "I'll tell you what you don't want. You don't want to lose my sympathy. Listen to me. Whatever your husband did, you're an accessory right now right where you sit" Voight said. Rochelle cut him off by slapping him in the face, and I was quite shocked when Voight didn't do anything about it. "He did what a husband should do" Rochelle replied. "Now tell me where he went" Voight said.

After Rochcelle told us, we got Antonio, Kevin, and Jay to meet us at the location. We broke into the basement to find Richard, Rochelle's husband, and another man, Damien Boyd who I remembered from the neighborhood beating Darren. "Chicago Police! Up against the wall, now" Jay said. "Give me that. What's the matter with you" Voight said as he snatched a baseball bat from one of their hands. I bent down to check on Darren. "We're gonna need an ambulance" I say.

While Damien was busy beating up Darren, his son had been kidnapped. That meant that Damien wasn't our guy. "Lab results got back. The blood in Woodhull's trunk is a match for Jeremy Dolan" I say. "How old is the blood" Antonio asked. "It's two days old. He was transported in that car." "But the car's been in the shop for six days" Kevin said. "All right, who had access to the vehicle" Voight asked. "It's the mechanic. I'll go" Jay said. "Hey, we're still missing the big picture here. We need to know why. Take Alvin" Voight said.

When Jay and Al got back, they had a lot to share. "Our main target is Kurt Hollister. Last known location was his mechanic shop four hours ago. We got Tac guys sitting on his residence and an Amber alert out on the vehicle and the kid" Antonio said. "The body in the freezer belonged to Ray Malone. He was 38 years old. He died a block from where he was born" Mouse said. "Malone is a knock-around guy... misdemeanor priors. Somehow, he's the nexus. He went to high school with the father of the victim and the father of the missing kid" Adam said. 

"So what's the motive? Why brutally murder a kid, take off with a second, and then leave an unrelated male body behind" Al asked. "He's out there, and he's holding a seven-year-old boy. He's not some mastermind. We should have him in custody. We were right there. We talked to him" Jay said. "We all missed this. Let's just connect the dots. Who was Ray Malone to this guy? How's he end up in his freezer" Antonio said.

Antonio and Voight interviewed Damien to try and find a connection to Ray Malone while the rest of us kept looking for Damien's son. "All-call message went out on Hollister 30 minutes ago. I want to be apprised of any sightings" Voight said. "Sarge, Boyd's son, Conner... most likely snatched on his way home from school. Got a team canvassing the route home right now. We just got nothing useful so far" I say. "I flagged the plate on his car. Troopers are shutting down the ramps" Mouse said. "Ah, we got to move. Just got a hit on that plate. Patrol's already down there. We got to go" Kevin said.

Right as we pulled up to the park, I heard gunshots. We all got out of the car and chased after Hollister. We soon cornered him with our guns drawn. However, he had a gun pointed at Connor. "Everyone, fall back" Voight shouted. We all took a few steps back. "I'll talk to him" Antonio said and put his gun away before stepping forward. I couldn't hear much of their conversation because of the helicopter in the sky and the wind whipping around us. Right as Connor was safe in Antonio's arms, there was a gunshot. Jay had shot Hollister before he could shoot us. "Lincoln 15-21. Shots fired by the police. Offender down. Tender-age child in custody. Notify the Coroner" I say.

Back at the district, I was getting ready to go home. "Want to come to my place tonight" Adam asked. I laughed. "We go to your place so much, I'm starting to think that I actually live there" I say. "Maybe you should" Adam replied. I looked up at him. "Really? You think we should move in together?" "Why not? You're my fiance now. We should get used to living together." I smiled and gave him a hug. "I'll have to think about it" I say. "Now come on. I want to get to bed." Adam laughed. "You're the boss. Lets go babe."