Back in the bullpen, Rick pulled up all his records. “Nothing unusual on his cards. No ATM withdrawals, at least nothing big.” He scanned the cell records. “Wait a sec.”
“What?” Rebecca nodded towards the monitor on the wall where all of Phillip Stein’s personal info was popping up.
“There’s a number on here. Called at least twenty times in the last couple of days.”
“Run it.” Rebecca crossed her arms over her chest and started chewing her bottom lip.
Rick punched the keys loudly. “Son-of-a-bitch.”
“What?”
“It’s Richard Hudson’s number.”
“What the hell?” Rebecca narrowed her eyes. “I told him to let us handle it.”
“Last call was an hour before we got there.” Rick clicked another couple of buttons. “It’s his cell.”
Rebecca spun around. “Find him. He’s just crazy enough to try something stupid.”
Rick pulled up another program and started searching for the tracking devise in Richard Hudson’s phone, triangulating it against the map. Within minutes, a small red blip showed up on the monitor. “Got it.”
“Let’s go get him.” She nodded towards the laptop.
Rick studied the laptop as they drove. The dot hadn’t moved. It was a steady flash somewhere in Navy Pier. Not so strange for the middle of the day, but for late at night, it was strange. Even stranger because it was Richard Hudson, and he had called Phillip Stein more than twenty times in the last two days.
Rebecca had the lights and sirens on this time. Cars moved slowly out of the way as she maneuvered her way through the dense downtown Chicago traffic. She pulled into Navy Pier and crept along the road, waiting for Rick to signal they were close.
“There.” Rick stopped them at a point on the back edge of the pier, closest to the Grand Ballroom. There was a dark sedan parked haphazardly. From the looks of it, the occupant had fled the car quickly. The driver’s side door was thrown open, and the engine had been left running.
They got out and started walking towards the end of the pier. They passed the twin spires of the domed ballroom barely visible against the murky sky. Their guns were drawn, and both had flashlights trained on unseen spots in the dark.
“You son-of-a-bitch. You took everything from me.”
Rebecca felt Rick tense next to her and without a word, they began running towards the sound. Their flashlights bouncing around wildly as they ran towards the voice.
“Please, I didn’t do anything.”
The sound of desperation filled the air, and Rebecca knew what they would see before they even spotted Richard Hudson.
“Richard. Chicago PD.” Her flashlight finally found them at the edge of the pier. Richard had Phillip Stein on his knees, a gun leveled at the back of his head, ready to shoot him execution style. “Put the gun down now!”
Richard turned and the beam of her light hit his eyes. They glowed eerily, and she knew immediately that he had snapped. The look of crazy desperation penetrated the night. “Don’t come any closer, Detective. He deserves to die.”
“Put the gun down. He’s not worth it. Let the law decide his punishment. This won’t bring Lizzie back.” Rebecca’s voice carried softly across the air. She could tell that Phillip was already bleeding, and his face showed signs of bruising.
Rick saw him hesitate and used the opportunity to shut his flashlight off and back away from Rebecca. He knew immediately what he was going to try to do. If he could come around from behind Richard and surprise him, he just might be able to stop him before he hurt someone.
“He stole my life.” Richard screamed. His voice was full of raw anguish.
Phillip craned his head, and Rebecca could make out the look of sheer fear in his eyes. “Please help me.”
Richard pulled his hand back and slammed the gun into the side of Phillip’s head, eliciting a painful howl.
“Richard.” Rebecca moved closer, her gun still trained on Richard. “Think about what you’re doing. Are you willing to give up your life for revenge? Is that what Lizzie would want for you? Ask yourself what Lizzie would want.”
Richard’s arm dropped slightly. He looked as though her words might have penetrated his brain and latched onto some shred of sanity.
Phillip tried to pull away, and Richard yanked his collar angrily. “Don’t move. Tonight you will die.”
Rebecca tensed. She could see in his demeanor that he was close to shooting. She couldn’t make out Rick’s position in the dark, but hoped he had been able to circle close to Richard. She just needed to keep him occupied for a couple of seconds longer. “Richard. Please. Think about Lizzie.”
Richard heard her steps and whipped the gun around on her. “Don’t come any closer to me, Detective. Don’t make me shoot you too.”
A chill ran through Rick’s blood. Richard was completely out of control, and Rebecca was in his line of fire. He quickened his step. He had to completely back away from them and circle outside his line of vision, and having to be quiet was taking way too much time. He prayed Rebecca could keep his attention just a few seconds longer.
“I’m not your enemy, Richard. This isn’t the way to deal with this.” She was ten feet away now, close enough to see the whites in his eyes. She could shine the light directly in them, but worried that in his wild reaction. he would shoot her. “Put the gun down, Richard.”
“Stop!” His voice was menacing. She had taken his mind off of Phillip and put it on her, a dangerous move.
He saw her move towards him. He loosed his grip of Phillip’s collar and leveled the gun on her. Time suddenly stopped. Rebecca’s eyes widened. She heard the gun fire and felt the bullet hit her. As she fell, her flashlight dropped from her hands and rolled towards Richard. She didn’t see his body hit the concrete seconds behind hers, his blank eyes staring into the night sky.
Rick leveled his gun on Phillip. “Don’t move! Don’t you fucking move!” He knelt down next to Rebecca, panic racing through his veins. He shined his light on her body, searching for the wound. He saw blood on her right side, and he ripped her shirt away. “Stay with me, Rebecca.”
Her eyes met his, and he saw the fear in them. She looked like a wounded animal. He pressed his hand to the wound and pulled his phone from his pocket. “Officer down! Repeat Officer down! The southeast corner of Navy Pier.”
Rebecca’s body was starting to shake. The cold, shock and blood loss making her tremble uncontrollably. “Jones…Jonesy, I’m s…sorry. I fu…fucked up.”
“Shh, shh, it’s okay, honey.” He stroked her brow. “It’s gonna be okay.”
He heard sirens in the distance, and knew help was close. Beyond the distant sirens, he heard something new. A small, shuffling sound. Whipping around, he saw Phillip pushing off the ground. He whipped around, his hand grabbing his gun. “Get down! Get down! Don’t make me fucking shoot you, you sick fuck.”
Phillip hit the ground with a loud thud and raised his hands above his head. “Don’t shoot. Don’t shoot. I’ll stay down.”
Rick watched him a second longer and knew he wouldn’t move. He turned his attention back to Rebecca. “It’s okay, Boss. We’re gonna get you taken care of.”
Rebecca smiled weakly. “I ne…need J…Jordan. P…please.”
He squeezed her hand reassuringly. “I’ll get her.”
Rebecca’s eyes fluttered close.
“She’ll be there when you wake up.”
Chapter 23
Jordan listened to Rebecca’s slow, even breathing. When Rick called her and told her they were taking her to Mercy for a gunshot wound to the abdomen, she had nearly lost it. She had grilled him for hours before finally
