⋆° დ ༄ RISKY BUSINESS
chapter twenty eight. disco bob.

Maxine looks at the food in front of her, her fork twirling around the pasta. "Maxine"

"Huh" she said, looking up at her baby blues.

"Did you hear what I said?"

Maxine shakes her head, "no, I'm sorry"

"What's wrong?" He asked, taking a sip of his bourbon.

"Nothing, I just—um.." she says, wiping her mouth with the napkin and putting it on the table, "I met my sister the other night. For the first time"

Mavericks eyes grow wide, "Wow...Maxine. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay. It was insane, though. Seeing my face on someone else"

"I bet"

"Can we go back to your place? I just wanna relax And you know.." she smiles. Maverick clears his throat, and looks around for the waitress.

Maxine grabs her phone from her bag and sees a text from Voight and she sighs. "Crap"

"Work?"

"I'm sorry" she said, getting up from the table, as the waitress dropped off the check.

"Well, at least let me drive you"

"You don't have too"

Maverick stands up and kisses the detectives cheek, "I'm gonna drive my girl to her crime scene and that's that"

Maxine laughs, "okay" she says, grabbing his hand, intertwining her fingers in his.

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"Thank you for driving me" Maxine said, leaning in for a kiss. Maverick cups her cheeks, "Be safe"

"I will and I'm so glad I left some clothes in your car."

"Not on purpose though"

Maxine rolls her eyes, "shut up" she sasses, "it's okay I leave my dress and bag here?"

Maverick nods his head, "yeah"

"Cool" Maxine said, leaning in for one more kiss, "I'll call you later" then she gets out, securing her gun into its holster and walks over to where Hank and Al were.

"Neighbor heard gunshots. Called it in" Patrolman Bob Ruzek, tells Hank, Maxine and Al outside of the crime scene.

"So, you're the responding officer?" Al asks.

"I was"

"Alright, Bob. Thanks" Hank says, patting the patrolman on the shoulder, as he and Al head towards the house, "and your kids doing great. Both of them" 

"Hey pops" Adam says, going in for a handshake with his old man, "I thought you switched to days?"

"Nah, I've been back on midnight's for a few months now. City's prettier at night" Bob states, then looks over at the brunette, "so, who was that guy that dropped you off?"

Maxine cleared her throat, and looked at Adam who looked confused and then back at the man who raised her, "Um..." then she sighs, "I was on a date"

"A what?" Adam and Bob said in unison. Maxine rolls her eyes, "I'm gonna go see the crime scene if you two would like to come with" then she walks away.

Bob looks at his son, "did you know about this?"

"Nope"

"She used to tell me everything"

"Lucy Denton, the mom" Bob continues on, walking in behind his son into the crime scene, "Daughters name is Shelby. Lucy knew somebody at the mayor's office, which is why you guys got called in, I guess"

"Husband live here?" Dawson asks, kneeled down next to the mothers body.

"Uh, yeah, Wes Denton, husband and father, don't know where he is, doesn't answer his phone and there's an eight year old son, Jordan, don't know where he is"

"Silva from homicide said they found casings from a Smith and Wesson. Same caliber registered to Wes Denton" Al says.

"I found an open gun case in the master closet. gun was gone"

"Motion detectors, window sensors is top of the line security system" Atwater says, walking back into the living room, "Do you know if the alarm was set?"

"Technician tells me it is. So, whoever entered has access to the code"

"Or they forced someone to enter it" Dawson suggests.

"Yeah, or that"

"Hey, you get a ping on the father's phone or GPS?" Voight asks Bob, but he looks confused, "Got a location?"

"I'm just the responding officer"

"So, that's a no?" Voight questions and everyone looks at Bob.

"Wow. They don't call it intelligence for nothing, huh?" Bob says. Maxine looked at Adam, who pulled their dad aside.

"Yo. I got something" Kevin shouts and Hank and Max follow his voice into the laundry room.

"Yeah, what is it?" Voight says.

"We got blood on the floor" Kevin says, pointing his flashlight on the carpet then onto the washing machine with a bloody handprint on it, "and we got this....how old did they say the boy was?"

"Eight" Max answers, then Antonio walks in. "Patrols got eyes on the dad's car"

"Alright, go and tell everyone the boy is injured, so we gotta move" Hank orders.

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Hank, Jay, Al and Maxine drive down the street that the patrol officers said they spotted Wes Denton's car on.

"That's it" Jay says, pointing to a small black car ahead of them.

"Assume Denton's armed, but remember we might have a kid in there" Voight says over his walkie and pulls up behind the car.

"Copy that" Antonio answers through his walkie, pulling up behind Voight.

The team gets out of their cars, with their guns drawn and slowly walk up to the car.

"Clear!" Al shouts.

"Hold up" Jay says, pointing his gun towards something bulging out under a blanket in the backseat and Al then smashes in the window and opens the car door to find nothing but clothes and a pair of shoes.

Maxine pops the trunk and Antonio slowly opens it to find nothing in there either, who asks, "He's leaving town?"

"Hey! What are you guys doing?" a guy questions, walking out of the building.

"Wes Denton?" Kevin questions.

"Yeah"

"Where's your son?" Antonio asks, holding up his badge, as Jay starts to pat him down.

"What? Why...home. Why? What happened?" Denton asks, starting to panic, "what's going on?"

"There's been a crime" Voight says.

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"Anyone in your wife's life, or your life you were having problems with?" Maxine asks Denton now back in interrogation.

"That would do this? No"

"You own a Smith and Wesson, correct?" Voight asks, sitting across from the grieving husband.

"That's right. I do"

"So, where is it?"

"At the house"

"It's not at the house"

"Then I don't know where it is...maybe you know, maybe whoever did this to my family. Maybe they took it"

"Wes, where's your son, Jordan?"

"I already told you, I don't know"

"Why'd you have all those clothes in your car? Where were you headed?" Max questions, leaning her hands on the silver table.

"Do I need a lawyer?"

"Why would you need a lawyer, Wes, if you haven't done anything wrong?"

"Because I feel like your pushing me in a direction that is unthinkable and untrue"

"Why all the clothes?" Hank questions.

"I was coming home from work in Fort Wayne"

"According to your neighbors, you're some big shot at Hewlett Packard here in Chicago" Hank says.

"I was laid off a year ago and I've been picking up freelance IT work, installing server systems at night"

"Why was your phone off all day?" Max asks, now leaning on the blue cement wall.

"My battery was dead. I forgot my charger. It's a three hour drive home"

"Where's your son?" Voight asks again.

"I don't know" Wes says, then his voice gets a little bit louder, slamming his fists on the table, "I don't know! Why don't I start asking you that question?" Wes says, pointing at Max then at Hank, "Or you? Isn't that your job? Or do you just sit around accusing innocent people of slaughtering their families?"

~~~

"Any news on the missing boy?" Maxine asks, as she walks into Voight's office where Al, Antonio and Adam are.

"Got every available unit out searching" Voight says.

"Wes Denton tested negative for gunshot residue" Al states.

"Doesn't mean he's not behind this"

"You know, marriages go south and everything, but killing your own kids?" Adam says in almost disbelief.

"There's some things this job, Ruzek, hopefully you'll never have to understand"

"Turns out Lucy Denton was an investigative journalist for the Chicago source" Antonio says, "her job was to antagonize people. Me and Max are gonna head down there"

"Sounds good"

"Kick Denton?" Max asks.

"yeah" Hank says.

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After Antonio and Maxine release Wes Denton, they head down to Lucy Denton's office to talk with her boss.

"Her office is this way" Varley -Lucy's boss- says, leading the two detectives to her office, "Lucy went after everyone. Big, small, if there was a good story, it didn't matter"

"Anyone ever threatened her?" Antonio questions. Varley scoffs, "You should see some of the letters that she got, some of the things that subjects said they'd do to her. So, yeah, there were threats"

"Well, we'll need to see every letter and email" Max says.

"I can pull some up for you right now" Varley says, sitting at Lucy's desk and starts typing on the keyboard.

"Oh, you know her password?"

"Lucy and I were close"

"How close?"

"I was here all night prepping Thursday's issue, detective. You want to talk to my staff?"

"Hey, no offense, but the Chicago Source is not exactly the Sun Times" Antonio states the obvious.

"Lucy loved what she did, no matter who she worked for. Writing for papers is a dying industry. Everyone's just trying to pay their bills at this point"

"She ever talk about her husband, life at home?"

"Lucy exposed other people's lives, never her own"

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Voight walks down to the lobby of the district to see who his visitor was when Bob Ruzek stands up from the bench and says. "Done well for yourself, Hank. I thought when you got locked up, that would be the end of it, but.."

"Do you need something, Bob?"

"Yeah, last night at the crime scene. I noticed this guy, bystander. I cruised back by the Denton house this morning, and he's still leaning on the tape. I know that killers sometimes like to visit their own crime scenes, so I, uh, went up to him, got his name" Bob says, taking out a piece of paper to hand to Voight, "Alexander Gage"

"We'll look into it. Thanks"

"Hey. I never weighed in about you to Adam when he got assigned here. I figured it was short term, but uh, looks like it might stick, huh?"

"So far so good"

"And about Maxine, I know you've been her mentor and partner for a while now, but she's a good girl. She's my kid, okay, I don't need you to further corrupt her or Adam. So let me say this to your face. I will meet you behind district and break your jaw, if they go down a bad road"

"I think we both know what's going on here, bob. I want you to know I haven't said one word to either of them about Terrinos"

"You heard what I said" Bob said, putting his patrol cap on and walks away.

~~~

Al, Adam, Antonio and Maxine are at their desks while Hank is standing by the whiteboard when Jay and Kevin walk onto the unit and the detective says, "this guy was definitely stalking Lucy Denton, but he wanted to humiliate her. He wanted her alive to do that"

"That's what he's claiming anyway" Hank says.

"Yeah, we're tracking down another person of interest. Some ambulance chaser that Lucy was probably sleeping with"

"Look, you think there's something to this lawyer angle, run it down. Gage stays in custody"

"Her palm scanner didn't work. Red faced. Big time" Trudy jokes, as she and Erin stand at the top of the stairs, "I had to buzz her up"

"Hmm. Thank you again, Sergeant" Erin says and everyone starts laughing, as Platt throws Maxine a package of twizzlers before leaving the unit, "I know, I'm like the loser that graduates from high school, and then hangs around in the parking lot all the time cause I have nothing better to do"

Hank goes in to hug Erin and asks, "they treatin' you alright over there?"

"Absolutely"

"Anything changes you let me know, right?"

"Aw. You care" Erin smiles. Hank chuckles and says, "Yeah" then walks away.

Erin looks in the break room to see Jay and Maxine and she smiles, walking into the room, "you guys got a good one going here?"

"We'll see" Max said, taking a sip of her coffee.

"Since you guys are my closest friends, I need to tell you something"

"What's up?" Jay asks.

"There's this cartel thing we're looking into. Lang wants us down there ASAP"

"Okay. Where's down there?" Max asks.

"La Paz. Bolivia"

"Wow, um, that's...how long will you be gone for?"

"Six months. Give or take. We could roll out anytime"

"Hey guys" Al says, putting on his jacket, "Atwater got an address for that lawyer"

"We'll be right there" Jay said. Maxine goes in for a hug with the blonde and kisses her cheek, "You're doing great things, Erin Lindsay. I'm so proud of you" then she walks away.

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"Lucy did a piece on insurance scams. She interviewed me, we stayed in touch. I was helping her file chapter eleven" The lawyer says that Maxine, Jay and Al were talking to.

"What's a P.I attorney know about filing for bankruptcy?" Jay questions.

"Lucy couldn't afford the basic two grand fee at a typical bankruptcy firm. I was doing it as a friend"

"How did she pay you?" Max asks.

"Not how you're implying. Believe me, they were broke. I felt sorry for her. I stopped by a few times, helped her fill out some paperwork"

"Always when her husband was out?" Al questions.

"She didn't want him to know about the bankruptcy. They'd sold off everything of value. They were trying to get out from under the house. These were desperate people"

"Are we talking quiet desperation or were they, uh, locking horns?" Max asks.

"There was some arguing going on there, yeah. Enough for Wes to kill Lucy? I've heard of crazier things but to kill his daughter, too?"

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Back on the unit, about an hour later, everyone is gathered around Jay and Maxine's desks, when Max gets off the phone with Roman, who found Jordan Denton with Kim, earlier that day with a gunshot wound in his shoulder.

"Okay, so Jordan's alive, but he's critical and heading into surgery now" Max informs the team.

"Alright, we like the dad for this" Adam states pointing to him and Kevin, "I just got off the phone with Denton's bank. Got eight hundred dollars in savings, credit cards are maxed out, they're on their second mortgage"

"Both Wes and Lucy Denton had 500,000 in life insurance policies taken out when they were flush" Kevin says, "Wes' lapsed, kept the premium paid on Lucy's and with double indemnity. Wes Denton's gonna get paid out a million dollars" 

"Look, I hate to ruin the party here but I cross referenced all the subscribers and MUDD and tolls on Wes's phone" Jay says, "Nothing stood out. Tech lab checked all the searches and the activity on the home computer, nothing. So, if he hired someone to kill his wife, he was careful"

"So, he was careful" Dawson says, "We got financial motive for the husband. We need to bring him in"

"Well, he ain't coming in voluntarily again, I'll tell you that much" Voight says.

"Okay, if Wes hears we found his kid and he might get ID'd, he'll bolt" Al adds.

"Plus, to me, he looks like one of those guys whose mouth starts moving when they feel the bracelets slapped on their wrists" Dawson says.

"Let's hit it" Voight says.

~~~

After Wes Denton lawyered up -who was no help at all- and Jordan IDing the man that shot his family, the team is back on the unit, gathered around the whiteboard.

"Frank Carriger" Hank says, pointing to his picture on the whiteboard, "Did five years for aggravated burglary and narcotics possession. When he was released, his P.O got him a job at the OG grill"

"I put out an investigative alert on him," Dawson says.

"Any LKA's for this guy?"

"Yeah, I got his last three" Adam says, reading from a tablet.

"And we still can't find any communication between him and Wes Denton" Jay states.

"What about between him and uh, Lucy's stalker, Gage?" Max suggests.

"Zero" Al answers.

"Well, somebody gave Carriger that alarm code" Voight says.

"Copy that, thanks" Kevin says, hanging up his desk phone, "We might have eyes on Carriger. Loyola station, boardin' the L, right now"

"Beautiful" Hank says, and everyone gets up and grabs their coats.

🪩🪩🪩

Antonio and Max run down the platform at the subway station meeting up with Jay and Kevin. "Witness said he's wearing jeans and a black leather jacket" Antonio states.

The four look around as the train stopped and passengers were getting out. "I don't see him" Jay states.

"Me either" Kevin says.

"Atwater and I will take the back car" Dawson says.

"And Halstead and I will take the front. Meet you in the middle" Maxine said, as she and Jay ran towards the front of the train.

Max and Jay maneuver their way through the crowd of people on the train waiting for the doors to close. Maxine looks to her left and sees the suspect and takes out her walkie, "I got him. He just exited the train" then she and Jay take off after him, "Move! CPD!"

"Suspect is headed down the stairs to Ashland and lake!" Jay says into the radio.

Al stops the car, so Adam could get out and races after the suspect who runs up the stairs to the other side of the subway platform.

As Max and Jay had caught up to them, the train doors had just closed, leaving Adam with the suspect alone, as he chased him down the subway cart.

Adam grabs the back of his shirt and slams him into the window then onto the ground. He puts his knee on his back and takes out his cuffs, "stay down! Put your arms behind your back! You like shooting kids, huh?!"

"Owen Reese. The girls boyfriend. He had me do it!"

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Maxine watches Dawson and Olinsky interrogate Carriger and Jay and Hank interrogate Owen Reese and Max wishes she could kick both their asses.

Reese hired Carriger just to scare Lucy, but when she didn't give him what she wanted -which was money, which they didn't have- Carriger killed them both and attempted to kill Jordan.

How can people be so evil?

🪩🪩🪩

"So, who's this guy you're seeing?" Bob asks, as soon as Maxine sat next to him in the booth.

"Dad"

Bob shrugs, "I'm your father. By blood or not. You used to tell me everything"

Maxine sighs, "his name is Maverick"

"Does he make you happy?"

Maxine smiles, "yeah, he's pretty cool"

"Hey Pop. Maxie" Adam says, walking over to his father and sister and takes his coat off, sitting next to Maxine.

"Hey" Bob says. "Hey, listen. Thanks for meeting me here"

"Oh, of course"

"I had nothing better to do" Maxine sasses, taking a sip of her scotch.

"About last night.." Adam said.

"Oh, no. It's done. I'm over it" Bob says.

"No, no, no. You know, I didn't mean it like that. I just was all worked up and I just sounded like an ass, so.. I'm sorry" Adam says, as a waitress brings him over a beer.

"Adam, the night you were born and I held you in my arms and then the night we found Max on our doorstep, I made a decision. It was more important to be your dad than to be a cop." Bob said and Adam and Max looked at each other, "so I transferred to the 26th and I stayed in uniform. Did I make all the busts that Voight did? No. But I was there to coach both your teams, drive you guys to school. Take you to the movies. I wanted to come home to my son and daughter every night"

"I didn't know that"

"Me either" Max said, "thanks dad"

"I uh, I heard once that a man's greatest achievement is when his kids become more successful than him. I just wanna know that you're happy we're you guys are at"

"I am"

"Me too" Adam agrees, "I like being the first through the door. That's the kind of cop I am. I know it is for Maxie too. We like being in this unit. Wouldn't want to be anywhere else"

Bob smiles and holds up his glass. Max looks at her brother and smiles as they both hold up their drinks and they clink them together.

authors note;

the ruzeks >>>>>💓🫶🏼