Rebecca stepped up on the porch and lifted her hand to knock when a chill ran down her spine. The door was cracked slightly. She tensed and gave Rick a look. He stepped up and put himself between her and the door, neither knowing what they would find.
Rick raised his gun and put it in front of his lips, signaling for Rebecca to remain quiet. He pushed the door open with his foot and leaned his head in the crack. “Phillip Stein. Chicago PD.”
They waited, breaths held for some response. None came. Rick toed the door open all the way and stepped into the entryway. He shouted again. “Hello! Dr. Stein, are you here? Chicago PD.”
Still nothing. Rebecca stepped in behind him. Something wasn’t right. The open door wasn’t right. It felt all wrong.
Rick slid his hand across the wall and flipped a light switch illuminating the dark room. They surveyed the room. A sofa table lay upended, and an empty glass lay on the carpet with a wet stain spreading around it. He shot Rebecca another look, this time letting her know that whatever was going on wasn’t what they expected.
She could feel a chill in the room and couldn’t tell if it was the open door or the evil she knew lived here. They walked around the sofa, careful not to touch anything. “Dr. Stein. Chicago PD.” Rick’s voice was louder this time.
They heard a slight shuffle from the room next to the living room. Pulling a small flashlight out of his pocket, he led them into the kitchen. Both of their guns were ready, not sure if Phillip Stein would try to attack them. He obviously saw them pull up, and he was frantically trying to avoid being caught. He was a man with everything to lose. Rick fumbled for the light switch and flipped it on, ready to shoot if necessary.
“God damn it!” Rebecca pulled her gun back. “What are you doing in here?”
Jordan waived her gun at the door. “It was open.”
“And you couldn’t give us a head’s up?” Rebecca was glaring at her. Her heart was pounding, her nerves a frenzied mess.
“I wasn’t sure if he was waiting to ambush you, and I didn’t want to alert him if he was.”
Matt came out a door to her right. “All clear.”
“Basement?”
“Yeah.” Matt slid his gun into the holster. “I don’t think he’s here.”
“You’re probably right. Let’s check the rest of the house.” Rebecca walked in front of Rick and repeated the same slow thorough sweep of the house. Phillip Stein wasn’t home and from the looks of it, had left in a hurry.
“Fuck.” Rebecca swore softly. “Put out an APB. I don’t want him getting far. Send his plate info out to anyone in a two-hundred mile perimeter. He’s not getting away.”
Rick pulled out his cell and made a call. “It’s done.
“What now?” Jordan said with a loud sigh.
“Get CSI out here. I want every inch of the property searched. We are going to go back and figure out where he’s going. I want his phone records. Find out who he is talking to. Run his credit cards. Let’s pull his bank accounts too. If he’s running, he’s going to need cash.”
She met Jordan’s questioning look. “See if you can get a hold of Ruth Dawson. Find out if they had any friends who would help. Maybe she knows something. It’s obvious someone tipped him off, and my gut is telling me it’s her.”
Jordan nodded, thankful for the distraction. She still had a hard time looking at Rebecca without her heart clenching tightly. She sucked in a breath. “For her sake, I hope she didn’t.”
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.”