Two hours had passed since Jack and Catherine returned with the church-van lead, and everyone in Intelligence was still digging through records and surveillance footage.
Nobody had bothered leaving for lunch, so burgers, fries, and soda covered several desks while the team worked.
At 1:30 p.m., Erin Lindsay finally found something useful.
“I pulled more footage from around Noel’s store.
That blue van with the Christian fish symbol has shown up there repeatedly over the last few months, and the same vehicle was caught near Dean Masters’s house about six hours before his breakdown.”
She brought the footage onto the main screen while Sheldon Jin turned from his computer.
“I have the registration.
Vehicle belongs to New Life Revival Church, 140 59th Street.
Registered to Pastor Mike Jarke, forty-five, African American.
No criminal record.
He’s had a few minor police contacts, mostly neighborhood complaints about noise from church events.”
Antonio Dawson frowned.
“A pastor working as a hitman?”
Adam Ruzek leaned back in his chair.
“Could just be cover.
A church isn’t a bad place to hide things.
People come and go all day, and nobody thinks much about it.”
Hank Voight considered the information before making his decision.
“We’re paying Pastor Jarke a visit.
Antonio, make sure the paperwork is in place.
If we find probable cause, I want that church searched from top to bottom.”
At 2:10 that afternoon, the Intelligence Unit arrived at New Life Revival Church.
The building was an unremarkable brick structure with aging stained-glass windows and a small parking area behind it.
Antonio knocked on a side entrance, and after several moments, a tall, heavily built African American man opened the door wearing clerical clothes and holding a Bible.
He was Mike Jarke.
“Police?” Mike asked pleasantly, though his eyes tightened slightly.
“How can I help you?”
Hank showed him the paperwork.
“Pastor Jarke, we have some questions about one of your vehicles and where it was yesterday.”
“My van?” Mike appeared confused.
“I spent yesterday preparing for the Sunday service.
The vehicle stayed behind the church all day.”
Jack glanced toward the rear lot.
“Mind if we take a look?”
Mike hesitated for only a second.
“Of course.”
The blue van was exactly where he said it would be.
Jack, Catherine, and the others walked around it carefully, but it didn’t take long to find problems with Mike’s story.
Fresh mud covered part of the front-right wheel well, hardly consistent with a vehicle that supposedly hadn’t moved.
The cargo area was even more suspicious.
Someone had cleaned it recently, but Catherine crouched near a narrow seam beside the floor and carefully removed a tiny fragment caught inside.
She studied it.
“Specialty paper.”
Jack looked closer.
It appeared identical to the unusual paper recovered from Noel Ares’s operation.
The officers exchanged glances.
They had enough to know Mike was lying.
Jack turned toward him, resting one hand near his holster.
“Pastor Jarke, were you at the Cowboys Heart store on 64th Street yesterday?”
Mike’s friendly expression disappeared.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Catherine’s eyes suddenly narrowed at his sleeve.
“What’s that on your cuff?”
Mike didn’t look down.
A dark reddish stain marked the edge of the fabric.
“Is that blood?”
Mike moved instantly.
He swept his robe aside, revealing a concealed Glock, and reached for it.
“Mike, don’t!” Hank shouted.
Jack was already moving.
Quick Draw Lv.2 and Gun Duel Lv.3 worked together almost instinctively.
Jack stepped off the line of fire, cleared his Glock, and fired before Mike could bring his weapon onto target.
The round struck Mike’s gun hand near the wrist.
His Glock fell onto the pavement.
Instead of surrendering, Mike roared and lunged toward Jack, drawing a knife with his uninjured hand.
Jack shifted aside as the blade came forward.
Tactical Grappling Lv.2 took over as he trapped Mike’s knife arm, redirected the attack, twisted the wrist, and forced the larger man off balance.
Mike tried to overpower him with brute strength, but Jack used leverage to drive him down onto one knee.
The knife hit the ground.
Antonio immediately moved in and handcuffed him.
Hank picked up Mike’s Glock and checked it before looking toward the pastor.
“Take him in.”
A short time later, Mike Jarke was sitting inside an Intelligence interrogation room.
He refused to say a word.
Antonio placed photographs and evidence reports across the table.
“Your van was outside Noel Ares’s store.
It was also near Dean Masters’s house.
Noel is dead, Dean is hospitalized, and your vehicle contains material connected to their counterfeiting operation.”
Mike remained silent.
Antonio leaned closer.
“How long do you think Green Ward is going to let you live?”
For the first time, Mike reacted.
It was small, but everyone watching from the observation room saw it.
Erin stepped in with a calmer tone.
“Dean engraved and printed the money.
Noel supplied the paper and chemicals.
You handled enforcement.
Green ran the operation.
We’re not asking you to protect him, Mike.
Give us Green, and we can tell the prosecutor you cooperated.”
Mike stared at the table.
Still nothing.
Antonio decided to push harder.
Investigators had recovered roughly ten thousand dollars from the church.
Antonio took several bills from the seized stack, held them up in front of Mike, and burned the samples in a metal evidence tray.
Mike’s eyes widened as the paper curled into ash.
“What the hell are you doing?”
Antonio pushed the rest of the recovered bills toward him.
Mike grabbed them with his cuffed hands and stared.
His expression changed from confusion to rage.
“Counterfeit?” His voice became hoarse.
“That son of a bitch Green paid me in counterfeit money?”
Antonio and Erin said nothing.
Mike slammed his hands against the table.
“He has a penthouse in Lakeview, but he spends most of his time at a printing plant in West River.
Go get that bastard before I do.”
Antonio remained focused.
“Why did Green order you to kill Dean and Noel?”
“Dean lost his mind,” Mike answered angrily.
“He started talking about turning himself in.
Green couldn’t risk that.”
“And Noel?”
Mike laughed bitterly.
“Noel kept taking Green’s money and blowing it on drugs.
I thought she was skimming extra cash.” He looked again at the counterfeit bills and cursed.
“Turns out Green was paying us with fake money the whole damn time.”
The interrogation was effectively over.
Hank immediately left the observation room and ordered additional protection placed around Dean at the hospital.
Minutes later, Intelligence gathered around the whiteboard.
“Jin, find every commercial printing plant operating in West River,” Hank ordered.
Then he turned toward the team.
“Antonio, you and Al—”
Al Olinsky raised a hand.
“Hank, I can’t make tonight’s operation.
Family situation.”
Hank didn’t hesitate.
“Handle it.”
He looked back toward the others.
“Antonio, you and Jay take patrol support and hit Green’s Lakeview apartment.
Jack, Catherine, Erin, Ruzek—you’re coming with me to the plant.”
Sheldon looked up from his computer shortly afterward.
“Only one location fits.
Belmont Printing Plant.”
Hank grabbed his jacket.
“Move.”
By dusk, the Intelligence Unit had quietly surrounded Belmont Printing Plant.
Ruzek used a small camera to check the interior before reporting back.
“Target confirmed.
White male, around sixty, matches Green Ward.
He’s packing bags.
I don’t see anyone else.”
Hank studied the entrances for a moment.
“Go.”
The team divided.
Jack and Catherine advanced toward the front while Hank, Erin, and Ruzek covered the remaining approaches.
This time, Jack wasn’t carrying only his Glock.
An M4-style carbine rested firmly in his hands.
The reason was simple.
After returning home following the Michael Gantz case, Jack had opened the Bronze Treasure Chest he earned from arresting the arms dealer.
[Obtained: $5,000 Cash]
[Obtained: Skill Points ×3]
[Obtained: Fire Support Lv.1]
Jack had immediately invested all three Skill Points into the new ability.
[Fire Support upgraded to Lv.3.]
[Fire Support Lv.3: When using rifle-type weapons, shooting accuracy +30%.
Magazine reload speed +30%.]
Combined with his existing firearm experience, Jack felt far more comfortable using a rifle than he had only days earlier.
He and Catherine entered the plant.
They found Green Ward almost immediately.
Green didn’t surrender.
The moment he saw them, he raised an Uzi and opened fire.
Jack and Catherine dove behind cover as bullets hammered the concrete and sent chips flying across the floor.
“Chicago Police!” Catherine shouted.
“Drop the weapon!”
Green answered with another burst.
He was firing from behind reinforced cover, exposing almost none of his body.
Jack studied the position.
Then he aimed at one specific point.
Three controlled rounds struck almost exactly the same place.
The weakened section gave way.
Jack fired again.
The fourth round punched through and struck Green in the lower leg.
Green screamed and nearly collapsed, but he kept firing from behind cover until the Uzi finally ran empty.
“Cover me!”
Jack moved.
Catherine immediately shifted position and fired toward Green’s corner, keeping him pinned while he struggled to reload.
Jack advanced quickly through the plant, using machinery and structural columns as cover.
By the time Green managed to seat another magazine, Jack was behind him.
“CPD.
Drop it.”
Green froze.
Jack’s rifle was aimed directly at him.
“Weapon down.
Now.”
Catherine appeared from the opposite direction with her Glock trained on Green as well.
“You’re surrounded.
Drop the gun.”
Green looked between them.
Then he let the Uzi fall.
His hands slowly rose.
Catherine stepped forward, forced him down, and secured his wrists.
“Green Ward, you’re under arrest for counterfeiting and solicitation of murder.”
Hank and the others reached them seconds later.
He looked at Green lying cuffed on the floor, then at Jack and Catherine.
The decision to bring the two young officers into Intelligence had clearly been the right one.
On the drive back to the 21st District, Catherine still couldn’t stop talking about the gunfight.
“Jack, those shots through the wall were insane.
You kept hitting the same spot until the rounds broke through.
How did you even think of that?”
Jack laughed.
“It wasn’t anything special.
I saw the cover, figured it wasn’t thick enough, and tried it.”
“Nothing special?” Catherine shook her head.
“Sure.”
The two continued talking while Green sat cuffed in the back seat, looking increasingly irritated.
He had just watched two of the newest people in Intelligence dismantle his entire operation.
Jack didn’t care what Green thought.
A familiar system notification had already appeared.
[Large-scale counterfeiting syndicate dismantled.]
[Mastermind Green Ward arrested.]
[Reward obtained: Bronze Treasure Chest ×1.]
Jack left the chest unopened.
He leaned his head against the seat and closed his eyes.
Catherine glanced over.
“What are you thinking about?”
“A hot shower and coffee.”
She laughed.
“Same.
Unfortunately, we still have reports waiting for us.”
When their vehicle entered the 21st District parking lot, officers were already waiting to take custody of Green Ward.
Jack and Catherine handed him over, then dragged themselves upstairs toward Intelligence.
Erin Lindsay greeted them at the top.
In one hand, she held two cups of hot coffee.
In the other was a stack of action-report forms.