⋆° დ ༄ UNTIL THERE WAS TROUBLE
chapter twenty three. homecoming.

Hank walks into the waiting room at the hospital where the team is waiting on news about how Al is doing after being stabbed in jail.

As Hank tells the team that Al didn't make it. Sam breaks down into tears, along with the rest of the team. Heart breaking tears, that she can't keep in. Jay pulls her into a hug, as she cries into her husband's chest, and Jay wipes away tears of his own.

"No, no, no, no. This can't be happening" Sam cries out.

~~~

After everyone calms down a little bit, Sam leans her head on Jay's chest with his arm wrapped around her, when Hank says, "Alright, alright. I know. I mean, we're all in pain. I get it. But the best way to Honor Al is to find the son of a bitch responsible for this. So, for now, let's put all our energy, all our passion, our love for Al, into finding the person who did this. I know that's what Al would want. I guarantee it. Then, when this is over, when we got this prick, then we'll mourn Al. So, take the time you need. Just know, right now, we got some business to do" then he walks out.

🌙🌙🌙

Sam and Jay walk into the office, the warden had given the team to work out of, to figure out who did this to Al, when Jay says, "The weapon's at the lab. They're checking it for prints and DNA. It was a plastic comb before they turned it into a shank" then he and Sam take off their coats and put it on the back of a couple chairs.

Adam walks in and says, "Boss, I found a guard who actually saw the attack. His name is Dietz. He's waiting in the hallway for ya"

"Kim, Hailey, track down every frame of surveillance video you can get your hands on" Hank says, then leaves the room.

~~~

"We get that surveillance video yet?" Hank asks, as he and Kevin walk into the office they're working out of.

"Ruzek's pulling it up right now" Sam says. Adam connects the laptop to a bigger screen, presses play and says, "Alright, four cameras, all of cell block G. Here comes Al walking right here. Walks up to these two guys. They start jawing. Guard comes, breaks it up, two guys keep moving. Now, this is a different angle, different camera" then he pulls up the other camera angle, "You're gonna see the guard still with him at this point. Now, the guard is gonna get a phone call right here and break away. Al keeps walking towards his cell" then he pauses it, "And this is where it happens"

Hank looks at his team and says, "Okay, run it"

Adam presses play and the team watches the video of Al getting stabbed, over and over again. Sam looks away, and grabs ahold of her husband's arm and squeezes.

"Wait, freeze it" Hank says, which Adam does, "Alright, blow it up" which Adam does.

"Still can't see the bastard's face" Kim says.

"Alright, so we got any other angles? Other cameras?"

"I'll pull it up right now" Adam says, pulling up another camera angle, where the guard that was supposed to protect Al, is just standing around the corner, doing nothing to help him.

"What the hell is he doing?" Kevin asks.

"He's just standing there" Voight says.

"He's a coward" Kim says.

"The son of a bitch is in on it. Alright, his name is Dan Dietz. Run his financials. Antonio, come on. You and me" Hank says, leaving the room.

~~~

After talking with the guard, Hank grabs the inmate who stabbed and killed Al, and brings him into a storage room. Sam and Antonio stand watch of the door, so no one can disturb them, while Hank beats on him.

Sam peels an orange, throwing the peels on the ground when Antonio says, "Alright, that's...guard, unlock the door"

"You don't wanna go in there. No, no, we're good, we're good" Sam tells the guard, "Listen, this is the guy that killed Al"

"I know that, but this is not..."

"No, what are you trying to protect him for?" Sam says, then sees the guards still walking towards them and shouts, "Stop, we don't need you! Stop!"

"Back up. This is not what Al would..." Antonio starts to say, when Hank opens the door and takes off his gloves and says. "I interrogated the prisoner. He was not cooperative. I am convinced he's involved"

"For god sakes, Hank" Anotnio says, after seeing the inmate badly beaten up.

"Hey, he tried to choke me with his handcuffs" Hank says, as Sam hands him his coat and puts it on.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"You don't believe my story?"

"I wanna do right by Al..." Hank cuts Dawson off and says. "I said, he tried to choke me with his handcuffs. You don't believe me. File a beef and get the hell off this case" then he walks away, followed by Sam.

🌙🌙🌙

"Andre Gomez is definitely our guy" Jay says, walking onto the unit, where the team have relocated their investigation, after finding the killer, "There was ton of blood on his DOC uniform and his sneakers. They're on the way to the lab right now"

"Andre Gomez" Sam says, taping his picture onto the whiteboard, "35, long jacket. Affiliated with the Latin Scorpions. Doing time on a double murder"

"Yeah, he's been at Cook County for a month. His case is on appeal right now" Kevin says, passing the file he was just reading from, to Hank.

"Okay, so why? Why Andre? Why Al?" Hailey says.

"Well, he was a cop" Adam says.

"Maybe, but if it's just police hate, why put in all that effort?" Antonio says, walking over to the board, "I mean, this guy paid a guard five grand to look the other way"

"We know where this money came from?" Voight asks.

"Yeah, Western Union. It was a money transfer. We can't ID the sender, though" Brayden says.

"Right, so how the hell's some punk doing life get his hands on 5k? Doesn't make sense" Dawson says.

"Well, he definitely has somebody helping him on the outside" Jay says.

"The question is, is someone on the outside helping Andre or is Andre helping someone on the outside?" Hank says.

"You think this could be a contracted hit?" Kim asks.

"Feels that way to me. Alright let's dig into this Andre. See if he's connected to someone who has a grudge against Al" Hank says, then asks Kim whenever she's ready to grab a box and gather his things from his desk.

~~~

Hank walks onto the unit and says, "So, we got anything yet?"

"We're doing a deep dive into Al's old cases" Adam says, leaning on a couple boxes on his desk, "Everyone he's ever arrested so far, they've got one thing in common. There's no connection whatsoever to Andre Gomez"

"Alright, so what else do we know about this punk?"

"Sarg, I think we got something" Hailey says, "Andre had two visitors last week at cook county, his mother and his lawyer." then Kim hands Hank a photo, "His lawyer's name is Fidel Castro. Obviously the name's bogus"

"Okay, facial rec?"

"Nothing yet" Sam says.

"Well, we got any leads on this guy?"

"Yeah, Andre made two phone calls the day he was meeting with Fidel, and they were both to a cell phone registered to an Alberto Flores" Hailey says.

"I'll work on getting it pinged" Brayden says, walking to his desk.

"Okay, you and Antonio. Ruzek, you ride with me" Hank says, "Keep digging"

~~~

"Carlos DeLeon washed money for the Cali Cartel. Run the cash through a legit furniture business that he owns" Kim explains, as Hank and Adam walk through the door, "The feds have been after him for years, but this guy's made of Teflon"

"Any connection to Olinsky?" Hank asks.

"Nothing yet, Sarg" Kevin says. Jay hangs up his desk phone and says, "I was just talking to an agent at the DEA. It turns out, Al got loaned out to a DEA task force years back. The target was Carlos DeLeon. It was a federal case. That's why it's not in our files"

"So why the grudge against Olinsky?" Hailey asks.

"His little brother got popped for speeding . He had a load of guns in the car. The feds lock him up, and try to get him to flip on Carlos"

"That sounds like business as usual" Kevin states.

"It was until his little bro gets killed in jail"

"So, Al gets made in jail. Somehow, word gets back to DeLeon, and Deleon orders a hit on Al to get revenge. Let's grab this guy now"

🌙🌙🌙

The team walks up to the front door of a very nice house, with their guns drawn. Antonio knocks on the door. Kevin looks at Voight who says, "Hit it"

As Kevin yells, "Chicago PD!" and about to smash the door open with the ram. A woman opens the door and Jay pushes his way in, followed by the team and says, "Carlos DeLeon!"

"He's not here" the woman says.

"Where is he?"

"You can't come in my house without a search warrant"

Sam hands the woman the warrant and says, "Right here, signed by Judge Thomas Wells"

"Your husband, Carlos, where is he?" Voight asks.

"I told you, he's not here" Carmen says.

Kevin walks out from the back with an older lady and says, "Hey, I just found her in the back, Sarg. I don't know if she speaks english or not"

"What's your name?" Voight asks, "Tu Nombre"

"Susana" the older woman says.

"Callate! She's my mother. Now get your hands off her"

"There's men's clothes in a suitcase on the floor in the bedroom" Adam says, leaning over the banister, "Looks like someone left in a hurry"

"Alright, where'd he go? Mexico?" Hank asks.

"My husband travels for business. He sells furniture" Carmen says

"Your husband launders money for the cartel, and he ordered the murder of a Chicago police officer. So you got one chance to cooperate"

"Or what? You gonna hit me?"

Kim puts her hand on Hanks vest and says, "Sarg, we got this. Let Sam and I talk to her"

"That's a good idea. Tear this place apart!"

"Go" Sam says, pushing Carmen forward, as she, Kim and Carlos' wife walk into the kitchen, "Come on, Carmen, you knew the day you married Carlos this moment was coming"

"Play it right, you walk, play it wrong, you..." Kim starts to say with Carmen cuts her off and says. "My husband sells furniture. Now get the hell out of my face"

Kim then slaps her and puts her hand around her throat and says, "You listen to me, you bitch. Your husband killed my partner. Do you understand? So either you help me here and now, or I will bury your ass"

"I'm calling my lawyer. They call him the shark. He'll make your life a living hell"

"Call him" Kim dares. As Carmen and her mother start arguing, Sam says, "nuh-uh. She stays"

"For god sakes, leave her alone"

"Oh, I will. I need her papers first"

"She has nothing to do with this"

"Papers, now"

"Look, at this text" Kim says, handing Sam her work phone. Sam reads over it and says, "Okay, we ran your mother's name. Seems she doesn't exist. I'm guessing she's here illegally"

"One call to ICE and she's gone" Kim says, "Slow train back to Mexico, Carmen. It's a real easy choice. Your sweet, loving mother.."

"Or your scumbag murdering husband" Sam says.

"Who's going to prison for the rest of his life"

"Last chance" Sam says, then shouts, "Where is he? Where is he?"

"Ramon picked him up about an hour ago"

"Who's Ramon?" Kim asks.

"Carlos' cousin. They're at his warehouse"

"That wasn't so hard was it?" Sam says, as her and Kim walk away.

🌙🌙🌙

The team get to the warehouse, where Carlos and Ramon get shot and killed. Now the team is back on the unit, when Antonio walks in and Jay says, "What the hell happened out there?"

"This witness is all over the news saying DeLeon's hands were up high?" Hailey says.

"Yeah, is he telling the truth?" Kevin asks.

"I don't know, I didn't see it. I got to the scene right after Voight opened fire" Antonio says.

"Press about to go crazy over this"

"Yeah, this is not a good look for Voight" Brayden says.

"I get it, but I mean..." Antonio says. Sam cuts his off and says, "But what?"

"There's nothing I can do. I wasn't there, so I can't confirm or deny if Carlos reached for his weap-" Adam cuts Dawson off and says. "You can't confirm or deny? What, are you a lawyer?"

"I didn't see what happened"

"It doesn't matter. Who cares!"

"Excuse me?"

"We're talking about the guy who killed Al here. We're talking about a career criminal who paid some punk to kill our friend, our brother, and you're worried about what you saw or didn't see? I don't understand"

"Watch yourself" Antonio says, walking closer to Adam

"Watch myself? I'm right here" Adam shouts, as the team keeps the two apart.

"What is going on?" Platt questions, walking onto the unit.

"We're good" Kim says, "We're just talking over a few things"

Trudy sighs and says, "Antonio, Ivory tower called. They wanna talk to you about the Carlos Deleon shooting. Now"

Antonio sighs and leaves the unit.

🌙🌙🌙

Sam leans her head on Jay's shoulder and he wraps an arm around her as they sit on the couch, sitting in silence. Denise and Wyatt walk down the stairs, with Wyatt holding his sister and walk over to the couple.

Wyatt sits next to Sam, and Gracie crawls onto her mother's lap and Denise sits next to Jay.

Sam clears her throat and says, "You guys cleaned up? Pizza should be here any minute"

Wyatt nods his head as Denise says, "Yeah"

a/n:

That's it! That's a wrap on Book 4 ❤️
R.I.P Alvin Olinsky, you will forever be missed from the Chicago family 🥺💔