⋆° დ ༄ RISKY BUSINESS
chapter fifty five. the cases that need to be solved.

Maxine sits up in bed just staring at her ring and she smiles. She's never been happier than at this moment right now. She had the best friends, the best job in the world, the best family and the best fiancé she could ever ask for. She was content with her life but you know how the saying goes, nothing stays good for long.

Maverick walks out of the bathroom and smiles, seeing Maxine smile at her ring. He loved this woman through and through and he would do anything for her.

Maxine sighed when she heard her phone ringing. She looked over at the text from Voight, saying they had a case. She quickly jumps out of bed and goes to give her fiancé a kiss and walks into the bathroom.

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Maxine walks onto the crime scene with Antonio, stuffing her hands into coat pockets, meeting up with Hank who says, "tender age black male. Executed. one shot to the head. Other to the chest. Third was in his back" Antonio then goes to lift the sheet over the boys face to see a gunshot wound to the head, "nine millimeter"

"Uh, there's no signs of a struggle. And no signs that he was restrained." Erin says.

"Maybe he knew the assailant. And they led him back here." Jay says, as Antonio puts the sheet back over the boy's body.

"Did you see who took the kid down the side street?" Al asks someone. The guy shakes his head and says, "nah"

"How about we talk later on? In private."

"Nah. You've seen how they blew that little kid away. What do you think they're gonna do to me?" He says before walking away.

"I saw this white SUV drive around the playground. Slow. Kinda big. It had a roof rack on it. Then I glanced over and see four guys get out. That's all I saw" a witness tells Adam.

"Were they white? Black?.." Adam asks. The woman gives Adam a look and says, "only white people who roll through here are buying drugs. And they don't get out the car"

"Okay. Did you recognize any of 'em?"

The lady shakes her head and said, "no"

"What about a license plate number?"

"No. I told you what I saw." The woman says then she starts tearing up, "I can't believe this" then she walks away.

"Let me through!" A woman exclaims trying to get through the officers and over to where the body of the little boy was.

"Guys, this is Lauren Brooks. Think she's the mom" Roman says.

"Ma'am. I have to warn you..." Hank starts to say. Lauren shoves him out of the way and says, "just show me"

"Go ahead"

Maxine and Antonio uncover the sheet from the boys body and the mother instantly falls to the ground crying and screaming into Max's arms.

"Hey!" A man yells, running over to the scene, "is that him?"

"I'm sorry I can't let you cross" an officer says.

"Is that Noah?" The man says, then shouts, "hey. I'm brian Johnson. I'm Noah's dad. Is that Noah?"

"Let him through" Hank says. Brian Johnson walks over to them and stops in his tracks seeing his sons lifeless body laying there. The mother, Lauren, gets out of Maxine's hold and runs over to Brian and pushes him, "you did this. You did this! You brought this on him"

Kevin intervenes, pulling Brian away who says, "Noah, Noah. Get up" while Max and Erin try to calm Lauren down a little bit.

While Kevin tries to talk to Brian and his brother Miles, trying to get them to take a deep breath, they walk away in anger.

"I'm so sorry" Max says, holding Lauren in her arms.

"My first partner, 25 years ago, told me something I'll always remember and it'll always be true. We solve the cases that need to be solved. This case needs to be solved" Hank says, then Erin and Maxine help the mother up.

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"Victim, Noah Johnson. His father, Brian Johnson. According to the gang database, he's part of the west side posse. He does have priors. Possession, attempt to distribute, and UUW." Adam says, pointing at the whiteboard as the intelligence team is now back at the district.

"Any other rival gangs the west side posse are currently beefing with?" Antonio asks.

"We're looking into it, just waiting for more intel from CPIC."

"Might've been a retaliation hit" Olinsky suggests.

"On a six year old kid?" Adam says, walking back to his desk, "is that what we're talking about?"

"We're entertaining every possible scenario, Adam." Voight says, walking over to the board

"So, the dads a suspect?" Kevin asks.

"Everybody is. Look into all family members, all relatives, everybody. Start turning the screws on every known gang member in the immediate zone. Shut down their drug spots, lock 'em up for jaywalking, if you have to. Start flipping these guys one at a time. Someone is gonna talk. Especially if they're looking at time."

Commander Crowley and a reverend walk onto the unit and Dawson says, "commander"

"Reverend" Hank says, shaking his hand.

"I don't have to say that this is the highest priority right now" Crowley says, then asks Hank to talk in his office.

🪩🪩🪩

"First bullet went in right above his left eye socket. Second bullet right above his heart. Third bullet in his back, he may have been trying to crawl away" The ME tells Maxine and Jay in autopsy.

"Any signs of abuse?" Max asks.

"No. Neither recent nor pre existing. I usually don't ask this, but have you made any arrests?"

"Not yet"

"How long has the boys mom been outside?" Jay asks.

"An hour. She won't leave" the ME says.

Jay and Max say thank you and head out into the waiting room to ask the mom some questions.

"At the place where we found your son, you told your boys father that he did this. What did you mean by that?" Maxine asks.

Lauren sighs and says, "Brian's been mixed up in a gang his whole life. And they've been going at it recently with...with another gang. The g park lords" and Max and Jay look at each other, "threats were made. Back and forth. That's...that's what I heard anyway. Me and Brian don't live together"

"Any names mentioned?" Jay asks.

"Not to me. I told Brian, when we had Noah, he had to get out. Cause...cause he's a dad now. And...and he did for a while, but..."

Max places a hand on the grieving mothers shoulder and asks, "is there some place we can drive you?"

"I just want to be near my son. I just want to be near my son"

🪩🪩🪩

"Alright thanks" Maxine says, hanging up her desk phone as Hank walks back to the bullpen, "So, the bar that Brian was busted at is a known hangout for the west side posse. Nobody goes in there without being affiliated"

Jay gets up from his desk and says, "one of my CIs just told me that uh, they're planning some sort of payback against G park, like, big time"

Mouse tapes a picture up onto the whiteboard of Noah Johnson and Dawson says, "most people I've stood over put themselves in that situation. This kid never had a choice."

Trudy walks onto the unit and says, "drive by shooting. G park lords territory."

"Let's go" Voight says.

🪩🪩🪩

The intelligence unit arrived at the crime scene of the drive by shooting. As they walk underneath the crime scene tape a patrolman explains what happened.

"Drive by. Black four door sedan. Target was Jesse Kemp. 18 years old. Got shot in the leg, twice in the arm but he'll make it. It's a miracle no one walking by got shot. Shooter dropped 20 rounds at least."

"Is this your beat?" Jay asks, as the group stops walking.

"Yeah"

"Is Kemp hooked up with the G park lords?"

"Very much so"

"Where's Kemp now?" Dawson asks. The patrolman points to the ambulance and says, "over there with the paramedics. I've got my partner over there babysitting him"

Dawson heads over to the ambulance while the other follow the patrolman to the house where Kemp got shot, "this is where he got shot"

"You got anymore information on the offenders vehicle" Erin asks.

"No, not yet. Typical OEMC call. Heard shots. Found body.

"Any witnesses?" Adam asks.

"Sure. Any willing to come forward? No"

~~~

Maxine walks over to Voight who was talking to a policeman and says, "Sarg. Jesse Kemp lives with his mom. Her house is two blocks from here"

"Hit it"

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Maxine knocks at the door of Jesse Kemp's mother and when the door opens, she says, "were detectives Bishop and Halstead. Does Jesse Kemp live here?"

"Aunty the cops are here" the girl says, then turns back towards the detectives, "Yeah, come in. I'm his cousin, chelsea. Is he okay?"

"Is jesse okay?" The mother asks.

"Uh, he's gonna be okay. He's on his way to Chicago med" Jay says, as the woman grabs her coat and keys, "ma'am, um, we think Jesse may have been targeted"

"For what?"

"A six year old boy was found dead this morning"

"I heard. It's beyond..."

"I'm sorry to ask this, but do you know if he was involved at all?"

"Absolutely not. And for a minute I thought that you were here for my family to help us through this"

"Four men were seen in a white SUV approaching the boy right before he was found dead near a playground. We think Jesse was one of those men. Now maybe he drove, or maybe he was the lookout"

"How dare you come into my house and accuse my son of this"

"Ma'am, I know this may seem harsh but we're actually here cause we're trying to do you a favor" Max says, "whichever of the four guys involved comes forward first, it's his story that gets etched in stone. He's the one that gets the best deal"

"You wanna do me a favor, sweetheart? Leave"

"I'm telling you, if you're looking out for Jesse and he was involved, help him out" Max says, placing her card on the side table, before she and Jay leave.

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Back at the unit, Antonio hangs up his desk phone and says, "Jesse Kemp just had his lawyer visit him at Chicago Med"

"Alright thanks" Erin says, hanging up her desk phone as well, "that was vikan from the gang unit. He said Brian is affiliated with the gang, but he's not a trigger man. He does just enough to not have fellow gang members question his allegiance. He can't imagine any scenario in which the G park lords would put a hit on Brian, let alone on his six year old son"

"Good news" the reverend says walking into the unit.

"We could use some" Hank says.

"I was able to contact Maurice Owens. Know of him?"

"I do"

"He's willing to meet you and me and help arrange a truce on the streets. My hope is, he might even point us in the direction of the killers. He's at stateville penitentiary"

"Yeah I know. I put him there"

"We'll need to leave right now"

"Look, that's a wasted trip, reverend. I'm sorry"

The reverend scoffs and says, "He's the leader of the G park lords"

"Was. Reverend, the gangs now, they're splinter units. They don't kick it upstairs anymore. Maurice has no pull. None. If he was out on the streets tomorrow telling people what to do, he'd be laughed at. Or shot. This city had changed. Maurice doesn't want to believe it, you may not want to believe it, but that's the reality"

"What can I do?"

"Just keep doing what you've been doing the last 25 years. Reverend, you've kept at least 10 crimes off my desk every day doing what you do. So, please just keep doin' it"

"And if you can, get the word out. Any retaliation is gonna increase the tragedy of what happened." Jay says, leaning back in his chair.

"I know that sermon." The reverend says as he shakes Voights hand.

"Appreciate you."

As Antonio walks the reverend out Hank asks, "alright. Anything new on the white SUV?"

"No. And Jesse Kemp doesn't nor has he ever owned or rented one. Of any color" mouse says.

"Oh, hold up" Jay says, clicking the mouse on his computer, as Max takes a sip from her coffee, "we've been checking all contact cards, traffic citations issued, arrests, right?"

"Yeah" Hank says.

"Last week, a 22 year old male was pulled over by a beat car on a stop and frisk in G park lord territory. He's from a different gang, the two-threes, which are way south. His names Bryan Johnson. Spelled B-R-Y-A-N. Is there any chance G park went after the wrong Brian Johnson?"

~~~

"So, the new Bryan Johnson does some shady stuff against G park. G park gets 'em mixed up and goes after the wrong Brian Johnson?" Kevin questions.

"No, I don't know what the hell happened, Kevin, I'm just putting it out there" Jay says, standing next to the white board, file in hand, "gang unit says this Brian Johnson isn't a hitter. This Bryan Johnson is, and hes in G park lord territory the day before Noah gets killed in what's looking more and more like a retaliation hit by G park"

"Alright, same work up that we did on the first Brian Johnson, let's do it for this one. Start building a whole new timeline" Hank says.

Adam hangs up his desk phone and says, "hey, uh, the 34th district just reported an SUV torched off Cicero. There's a cargo rack attached to the roof."

"Let's go"

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The intelligence unit heads to the crime scene of the torched car where they find the fire department finishing up.

"It's torched down to the rims." Antonio says, as the group walks over to the car.

"Mouse ran the plate you sent." Maxine says, "cars registered to a Lydia Bernstein out of Springfield, Illinois."

"Original color listed as white?" Adam asks.

"Yeah"

"And I'm bettin' it came back hot right?" Jay says.

"Not reported. So, he's checking to see if she's related to any of our suspects."

"Bernstein?" Kevin says, using his flashlight to look into the vehicle, "probably not"

"Fair. Connected."

"Alright. Get Springfield PD to pound on her door. We need the names of everyone who had access to this vehicle." Voight says.

"Got it" Ruzek says, taking out his phone and walking away.

"Dash is melted. Columns got pulled out." Atwater says.

"Forensics isn't gonna be able to pull a print off this thing." Al says.

"The GPS system?" Voight asks.

"Yeah, it's still in there. Can't pull the guts out without my tools" Kevin says, turning his flashlight off.

"Alright, have it towed back to the roll up. We know where this cars been, our life gets a little easier."

"Alright" Kevin says.

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"Lydia Bernstein's been in Cancun for the past ten days" Maxine informs Hank, as he leaves his office, "her car was parked at the long term lot at midway. She didn't even know it was missing"

"Ruzek, you got parking lot surveillance?" Hank asks, as Max and Erin follow Hank to Adams desk where Antonio and Al are.

"I don't know. If that's what you want to call it, boss" Adam says, before playing the fuzzy footage.

"You can't get a clearer picture?" Olinsky asks.

"No, this is the best I got. So, based on this video, we're either looking for a human being...or a yeti. I don't know"

"Run it through face recognition. Maybe something will pop"

"So, where we at with this new Bryan Johnson?" Hank asks, walking over to the board.

"Beat cops did a sneak a peek at his residence" Erin says, opening a file, "place was tossed. Back door was open but no sign of forced entry. So, it's looking like he took everything near and dear to him and left in a hurry"

"Alright, someone find me this yeti"

~~~

While Kevin is trying to extract the gps from the melted car. Mouse walks over to Jay who was writing something down and says, "he was six years old"

"Craziness, man" Jay says.

"I was looking at his school photo and it made me think of Landigal. When we breached the mud hut with the boy"

"I don't wanna talk about that day, man"

"Yeah. I just brought it up cause it reminded me of it"

"I just told you I don't wanna talk about it"

"Okay"

Kevin steps out of the car and says, "it's intact"

~~~

Mouse looks at the gps through a magnify glass and is currently on the phone saying, "okay. Yeah, fine" then slams the phone down, "so our expert tech lab doesn't even have the actual cable they need to extract the vehicles GPS information"

"Wait. Remember the D'Alio case? When I was researching tech, there was some forensic software company that can extract information from navigational systems. The whole process should take minutes" Kevin says.

"Then let's do that" Jay says.

"It's not gonna be cheap though. It's a private contractor."

"Alright, we'll pass the hat around upstairs."

"Copy that. I'll make a call" Kevin says, walking away.

~~~

Kevin and Jay walk into voights office as Atwater says, "Hey Sarg, we got some 600 dollar information for you. Wanna whack it 9 ways?"

"No, I'll cover it. What is it?" Voight asks.

Jay looks up from a file and says, "it looks like our vehicle was parked a block and a half away from the playground at 7:52 a.m., that's 15 minutes right before Noah's murder. Then we got three hits off the SUV parked at 4802 south Champlain on three separate occasions in the day prior to the murder."

"Alright, now, that house belongs to 65 year old Sandy Lowe, who lives there with her 18 year old grandson, Colin Lowe " Kevin says, handing Voight a file with Colins picture and information in it, "according to gang intelligence, he's highly active in the G park lords. Self admitted. He's a senior at west park lake high school with Jesse Kemp."

"Well, That was worth every penny." Voight says, standing up, "tell everyone to gear up. We're rolling out"

~~~

Maxine sits at her desk while Hank and Antonio interrogate Colin Lowe, downing another energy drink. Jay looks up from his computer to see his partner in a daze, "Hey, you okay?"

"Hmm" she nods, "yeah"

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Maverick sets a plate of food in front of Maxine, who was taking a sip of her beer and says, "you okay? You've been quite all night"

"Huh. Yeah. It's just—this case, it's hard when a kid dies"

Maverick kisses the top of her head, "I'm sorry, baby. Talk to me, if you need too"

"Thank you"

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The next day on the unit, Roman walks up to the bullpen with Chelsea, Jesse Kemp's cousin. "I can't tell you how much I appreciate you coming in here" Maxine says, as she brings Chelsea into the break room.

"Jesse got pulled into this. And you said the first person to come in with their story, they get help"

"That's right" Max says and they take a seat at the table.

"But I also came forward because I saw a photo of the boy on the news. And people can't do that"

"I know, they can't. But the thing is, it's actually up to people like me and you to make sure that it doesn't happen again"

"I've been sick with the flu. So I've been staying at my aunts house all week. And...I heard everything"

"Okay. What did you hear?"

"Friend of jesses, Collin Lowe, he was at our house. And another guy they go to school with, Jordan Lockett, he comes in with his little brother. All worked up. Jordan says his sister had been raped a week earlier. And he had just got a tip that Brian Johnson done it. And it was all about the get back at that point. Jordan said everything was fair game"

~~~

"the morning of the murder, Jordan Lockett tells Jesse and Colin that they're going after Brian Johnson's son. Now, according to Jesses' cousin, these two tried to back out, but Jordan is above them in the gang and he made threats. He also decided to bring his 12 year old brother Andre along for the ride. Jesse and Colin are the lookout, Jordan and Andre led Noah down the block. This is our trigger man" Maxine says, then slams her hand on Jordan's picture on the board.

"Alright, we got to get Jordan before Brian's gang does." Jay states.

"Alright, listen. We stay low out there. We don't want anyone on the streets to know we're out in front of this. And if you do get Jordan, you keep your head on. We all know what he did to that kid. We split up. Hit every known address." Hank states.

~~~

After catching Jordan Lockett. Antonio and Voight interrogate him and minutes in, Dawson starts yelling at the kid. Max and Erin both get tears in their eyes listening to this cold, heartless son of a bitch throw his 12 year old brother under the bus.

Maxine wipes the tears from her eyes and leaves the viewing room. Adam follows his sister down the hall, "Maxie"

Maxine stopped and Adam pulls her into a hug, who starts crying, "it's okay. It's gonna be okay"

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Later that night, the neighborhood where Noah Johnson's family lives planned a vigil for Noah. Everyone was there. The neighborhood. District 21. Firehouse 51. Some people from Chicago med.

Maverick puts his arm around his fiancé, as they stand with Erin, Hank and Jay.

authors note:

i want a maverick but I also want a jay. it's hard to decide 🤔