They moved to another corner of the vault, where Antonio, Sumner, and Halstead were standing with a dark-haired man. The edge of his shirt was stained with blood, although it was obvious it was not his own.
Gonzales still seemed trapped in the moment of the shooting. His eyes were red, his breathing uneven, and his gaze unfocused. He did not even notice when Ethan and Hank approached.
—I was in the back office, taking my break —he said, his voice trembling—. All I heard was the gunfire. One burst after another.
He ran a hand over his face.
—I wanted to do something, but I couldn't.
He looked at Antonio as though he needed someone to give him an explanation.
—When they left, everyone was on the floor. I tried to help them. I tried to stop the bleeding, but it was no use. I couldn't do anything.
His voice broke.
—We were supposed to go out and celebrate tonight. It was Mitchell's birthday. We were going to celebrate. Why did this happen? It doesn't make any sense.
No one answered immediately.
Gonzales was still in shock. He was not faking the trembling in his hands or the way his eyes kept drifting back toward the bodies.
Erin stepped closer and carefully waved a hand in front of him, making sure not to invade his space too much.
—Mr. Gonzales, we need the security footage. Can you get us a copy?
He blinked, as though he had only just remembered where he was.
—Yes. Of course. Whatever you need.
He nodded several times and hurried toward the exit.
—Follow me.
Erin went after him to retrieve the recordings.
Antonio looked at Ethan and Hank, tapping his notebook with his pen.
—What did you find? Any ideas?
—Pretty much the same things you did —Ethan replied, glancing toward the area through which Perko had been taken—. But I think we need to look into Perko's background as soon as possible.
Sumner frowned.
—Perko? He was wounded. Gonzales doesn't even have a scratch on him. Did you notice he never drew his weapon either?
—He was in the back office —Ethan replied—. If the robbers didn't see him, he might simply have gotten lucky.
Then he pointed toward the bodies on the floor.
—Look at the others. They were finished off without hesitation.
His finger moved toward his own shoulder.
—Except for Perko —Ethan said, indicating his shoulder—. He was only shot once. A clean through-and-through wound, right here.
He paused briefly, his gaze fixed on the place through which the guard had been taken.
—Too convenient.
Hank immediately understood where he was going.
—You're making him the primary suspect?
—For now, yes —Ethan said—. Gonzales needs to be looked into as well. I'm not saying otherwise. But his reaction fits someone who survived because he happened to be outside the line of fire. Perko, on the other hand, was standing in the middle of the access point to the vault and walked away with a single bullet wound to the shoulder.
Hank pulled out his radio.
—Tell Jin to dig up everything he can on Perko and Gonzales. Finances, phone records, employment history, debts, criminal records—everything.
He pressed the button and continued in a grave voice:
—I also want patrol officers watching Perko after surgery. No one goes in or out without us knowing about it.
He looked around the vault.
—And collect everything from the scene. Inside, outside, nearby cameras, witnesses, parked vehicles—anything that can help us reconstruct their route.
—Copy that —Antonio replied.
The others nodded and began moving.
The vault once again filled with the sounds of cameras, radios, and hurried footsteps. But Ethan kept his eyes fixed on the exit through which Perko had been taken.
Eight million dollars.
Four dead guards.
And one survivor who had been far too lucky.
Back at the station, Ethan immediately returned to his desk and reached underneath it.
He pulled out a small bag of snacks, took out a piece of beef jerky, and put it in his mouth.
Jin had finished organizing the material that had been returned to him earlier and was now pinning photographs to the whiteboard.
Hank looked at him.
—Tell us what you found, Jin.
—These four people.
Jin used his pen to point at the photographs arranged in a row.
—These are the security guards who were murdered by the robbers.
Then he placed two more photographs separately to one side and used a marker to indicate the close-up of the first one.
—Lukas Perko.
—He has no criminal record. Otherwise, he never would have gotten a job at a bank. However, when he was fifteen, he was sent to juvenile detention.
—Back then, he and his brother, Dominic Perko, were arrested in connection with a drug-trafficking case. They were both released when they turned eighteen.
—After that, Lukas Perko turned his life around.
—What about his brother?
Ethan swallowed the beef jerky before asking.
—I knew you were going to ask that —Jin said, pointing at him with a smile—. After Dominic got out of juvenile detention, he apparently remained involved with gangs. A few years later, he was arrested again for drug trafficking, sentenced to eight years in prison, and he is currently still serving his sentence at the Metropolitan Correctional Center.
—Oh, and according to Dominic's file, he belongs to a Croatian gang called the Two-Threes.
—As for Gonzales, I found his information too.
Jin moved his pen and pointed toward the photograph beside Perko's.
—He's an immigrant from Colombia. He has a wife, three children, no criminal record, and is financially comfortable. I don't see any motive for him to have done this.
—The only suspicious thing is that he started working there just two weeks ago.
—That also explains his behavior today. He was simply frightened and hid —Erin said—. What about the surveillance footage?
Jin picked up the laptop beside him.
—As you can see, there are six cameras positioned along the route the robbers used to enter and leave —Jin explained, pointing at the screen—, but don't get excited. They're not much help.
He went through the footage one recording at a time.
—The first two are too far away. The third and fourth didn't capture anyone. The fifth only caught them from behind, and the sixth, which had the best position, was blocked by an open iron gate. In other words, nothing useful.
On the computer screen, only a handful of distant figures in black hooded sweatshirts could be made out.
They were carrying two large silver cases and moving quickly.
Antonio frowned.
—There are too many coincidences. This has to be an inside job.
Ring, ring, ring.
Olinsky's desk phone rang, and he quickly picked up the receiver.
After a series of "uh-huhs," he hung up and immediately said:
—Breaking news. Patrol found someone near the bank who may have seen the robbers. The witness said they saw a van speeding away from the crime scene.
—The vehicle had no license plates, and the people inside were wearing hoodies and masks. Interestingly, the witness noticed that the skin on the necks of the two robbers sitting in the front was not black.
Hank scoffed.
—Hmph. So Perko was lying.
—Don't worry. He isn't going anywhere —Antonio said, calmly taking a sip of water—. He's at the hospital, under guard by our people.
—Boss.
Sumner quickly stood up.
—Let me question him.
—You think you can get something out of him?
Hank walked over to Sumner and studied her carefully.
—Yes. I can do it. Don't worry, I'm ready to make him talk.
Sumner looked him directly in the eyes and smiled.
Hank nodded with a smile of his own.
—All right. Take Antonio with you.
Sumner picked up her jacket and quickly walked over to him.
Antonio put on his jacket and led the way.
Watching them leave, Hank dismissed them with a wave of his hand and headed toward his office with a smile.
—Well, that's all for now. Go do whatever you need to do.
The others began studying the files. Ethan remained seated for more than ten minutes before picking up his keys and calmly heading downstairs.
He had promised Debbie that he would buy her a present, so he decided to take some time off to go shopping.
At first, he had wanted to buy her a Golden Retriever, but after visiting a pet store and learning more about the breed, he immediately abandoned the idea.
Instead, he went to a shopping mall, looked around for a while, and came out carrying several bags.
Back at the station, as he climbed the stairs, he saw Halstead talking to a blonde woman beside the front desk.
Not far away, Erin was hiding in a corner, spying on them.
Ethan quickly walked over and stood beside her.
—Who's the woman?
Erin reached out and pushed him aside, whispering:
—Move. You're in the way.
—I've never seen her before either —Erin whispered without looking away—. This is the first time a woman has come to the station to see Halstead.
—What do you think?
—She's pretty —Ethan admitted, tilting his head slightly—, but you're more beautiful.
Erin glanced at him from the corner of her eye, satisfied.
—Good answer.
Erin muttered the complaint under her breath, but a triumphant smile eventually spread across her lips.
Beside the front desk, the blonde woman chatted with Halstead for a few moments before suddenly turning her head.
She smiled at the two people whispering in the corner, nodded, and headed down the stairs.
The two of them froze for an instant and turned around far too quickly, as though they had not been spying.
—Did you see the Dodgers game last night? —Ethan asked, looking anywhere but at Halstead.
—Yeah… great game by Kershaw —Erin added with painfully forced casualness.
Their performance was so bad that Halstead did not even bother hiding his annoyance. He walked over to them with a flat look.
—All right, you two. Stop pretending.
Ethan blinked innocently.
—Pretending what?
—If you're going to spy on people —Halstead said, pointing toward the opposite wall—, I suggest you ask Olinsky for a few surveillance lessons.
Erin followed the direction of his finger and shrugged.
There was a mirror on the opposite wall. From that angle, Halstead had been able to see every one of their movements with perfect clarity.
—Who's the girl? Is she your girlfriend?
Now that they had been caught, Ethan stopped worrying about being subtle. He draped an arm over Halstead's shoulders and said:
—Thanks, but it's nothing like that. She's Ben's sister, Allie.
Halstead's expression became complicated.
Ethan immediately realized that she was Halstead's ex-girlfriend. He had mentioned her before.
Because of the incident involving Lonnie, she had been unable to endure such a devastating blow and, taking advantage of a job opportunity, had left Chicago to continue her career somewhere else.
The three of them headed upstairs together, and Ethan asked curiously:
—Has she moved back to Chicago? I mean, for work.
—I don't know either.
Halstead shook his head.
—She invited me to dinner at her place tomorrow night.
—Hey.
Erin gave her partner a light punch.
—You need to cheer up. I can tell she still has feelings for you.
—Really? Are you sure?
Halstead stopped and quickly asked:
—Absolutely sure.
Erin nodded and gave him an approving thumbs-up.
—Come on, you need to have a little more confidence in yourself. I'm sure she still likes you.
At her words, Halstead scratched his head.
Two people hurried up behind them, interrupting their conversation.
—We found out a few things.
It was Antonio and Sumner. No one had expected them to return so soon.
Back in the conference room, they called Hank in, and Sumner immediately began speaking:
—According to Perko, he knows one of the robbers. That's also why the man spared his life.
—He didn't dare tell us earlier because his friend is also a member of the Croatian gang, and he was afraid he would be implicated and treated like a traitor.
—I don't believe any of that nonsense —Ethan said with a shrug—. But go on.
—I already have the robber's name.
Sumner wrote a name on the board.
—Dennis Novak.
—What?
Hank frowned.
—Are you sure it's him?
—That's right —Antonio said with a nod—. That's the name. I know him.
Hank shook his head.
—This guy does belong to the Two-Threes. They control a few corners on the West Side, but robbing a bank is far beyond their capabilities.
Sumner pursed her lips and spread her hands.
Antonio, standing nearby, nodded in agreement, indicating that there was no mistake.
—I don't think Lukas is deceiving us. Besides, he's in custody and knows he's a suspect. If he lies to us, he'll be in trouble.
Hank folded his arms, paced back and forth for a moment, and finally made a decision.
—Let's focus on Novak first. Contact your informants. I want him located before the end of the day.
Antonio remembered something else.
—What about Perko?
Olinsky checked his watch and offered a suggestion.
—I have an idea —Alvin said after thinking for a few seconds—. Let's get him to relax. Pull the guard from outside his room. Let him believe we're no longer putting pressure on him and that he can go home tomorrow morning. If he's lying to us about Novak, we'll pretend we believe him and let him leave.
Hank narrowed his eyes, understanding where he was going.
—You want to give him some room.
—Exactly —Alvin replied—. If he really is working with the robbers, he isn't going to sit still. He'll get nervous, and he'll most likely try to contact them.
—Eight million dollars is a lot of money. If he's involved with them, he'll be extremely nervous —Hank said with a nod—. All right. You and Ruzek set up surveillance on him.
—No problem.
Olinsky removed his flat cap and smiled confidently.
Novak would not be found anytime soon. Word had already spread, and now everything depended on the effectiveness of their informants.
Not long afterward, it was time to leave work.