Jack Stacy thought back over the few days he had spent with Ivanka Anderson.
Their connection had never been only physical.
He remembered their long conversations, the way she understood the pressure of his job and how easily she saw through every attempt he made to hide what he was feeling.
There was also the quiet support she offered after every violent case.
None of that had felt fake.
At least not completely.
After a long silence Jack finally looked at her.
“Your mother’s case.
Do you want me to investigate it?”
Ivanka gently shook her head.
“At first I did.
I read your record and saw what you accomplished at the academy and after joining Intelligence.
You kept finding the important clue in cases that should have taken much longer to solve.”
She lowered her eyes.
“But now I’m scared.
Brian isn’t some street dealer you can arrest after a traffic stop.
He has money, political power and people everywhere.
If he really killed my mother then he can kill again.”
“I’m not afraid of him.”
“I am.” Ivanka’s voice broke slightly.
“I already lost my mother.
I don’t want to lose you too.”
Those words hit Jack harder than he expected.
He pulled her against him and felt the faint tremor in her body while she rested against his chest.
“All right,” Jack said softly.
Ivanka looked up.
“What does that mean?”
“Everything.” Jack smiled.
“I accept you the way you are.
No marriage requirement.
No traditional relationship.
We both keep our independence and deal with the future when it gets here.”
His arms tightened around her.
“Right now I want to be with you.”
A warm smile slowly replaced the fear on Ivanka’s face.
“Thank you, Jack.”
“And I’m helping with your mother’s case.”
Her expression changed immediately.
“Listen first.” Jack kept his voice steady.
“Not as a Chicago police officer.
This isn’t an official Intelligence case.
I’m helping because I’m your partner and because you shouldn’t have to do this alone.”
Ivanka searched his face.
“Even if it means going against someone who has money and political power?
There won’t be a promotion waiting for you at the end.
There might only be danger.”
For a moment Jack thought about the Super Cop System, its Treasure Chests and the abilities it had already given him.
Ivanka knew nothing about any of that.
As far as she understood she was simply asking whether he was willing to take a risk for her.
“I care about you and I’m willing to take that risk.” Jack looked straight into her eyes.
“If Bella was murdered then somebody deserves to answer for it.
I became a cop because I hate watching people hurt others and walk away untouched.”
Ivanka leaned forward and kissed him.
It was slow and grateful rather than desperate.
When they separated there were tears in her eyes but she was smiling.
“Thank you.” She rested her forehead against his.
“Not only for the case.
Thank you for accepting the real me instead of the version that would be easier for you.”
Jack pulled her down beside him and turned off the light.
The relationship they had just agreed to was complicated.
So was the possible murder case now hanging over them.
Strangely Jack felt calm.
“Jack?” Ivanka whispered through the darkness.
“Yeah?”
“If someday you meet a woman you actually want to marry you have to tell me.”
Jack remained quiet.
He was twenty-four and had never seriously thought about marriage.
“If that day ever comes you still have to tell me,” Ivanka continued.
“But I’m not leaving you.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t want to.”
Jack smiled in the darkness.
“Okay.”
They stayed close and listened to the quiet rhythm of each other’s breathing until sleep finally came.
The next morning Chicago was only beginning to brighten when Jack opened his eyes.
The city outside was still caught between night and morning but his mind was already racing through everything Ivanka had told him.
She was still sleeping beside him.
Morning light softened her features and made it difficult to connect the peaceful woman on the pillow with the dangerous family history she had revealed only hours earlier.
Jack quietly left the bed and walked toward the floor-to-ceiling windows.
A street sweeper moved below while an early CTA bus stopped near the corner.
A handful of joggers were already making their way along the sidewalk.
Chicago looked peaceful from this height.
Jack knew better.
“You’re awake early.”
Ivanka approached from behind wearing a silk robe and handed him a glass of water.
“Couldn’t sleep?”
“Thinking.”
“About last night?”
Jack nodded.
Ivanka’s expression tightened.
“If you changed your mind I understand.
It was a lot to put on someone after knowing them for only a few days.”
“No.” Jack interrupted before she could continue.
“I haven’t changed my mind.
I’m thinking about where we start.”
Hope appeared in her eyes but caution quickly followed it.
“Jack, you don’t owe me this because we slept together.”
“This isn’t about that.” He turned toward her.
“If Bella was murdered then she’s a victim.
Finding out what happened is the right thing to do.”
He took another drink of water.
“And you chose me as your partner.
That has to mean something.”
Ivanka stepped closer and wrapped her arms around him.
“I’m starting to think my judgment was pretty good after all.”
Her smile faded again.
“But part of me regrets telling you.
Brian has allies and enough money to make problems disappear.
He really could hurt you.”
“That’s why we don’t move until we have evidence.” Jack’s expression became serious.
“Real evidence.
Something strong enough that money and political connections can’t make it disappear.”
Ivanka studied him for several seconds.
“You’re really willing to risk your career for this?”
“I became a police officer because I believe the law is supposed to matter no matter who the suspect is.” Jack held her gaze.
“And you deserve to have someone willing to stand beside you.”
The tears Ivanka had been holding back finally slipped free.
They weren’t caused by fear this time.
It was the release of someone who had carried the same burden alone for years and suddenly realized she no longer had to.
She hugged Jack tightly.
“Thank you.”
Jack understood that kind of loneliness.
He had seen too many victims and grieving families trying to fight systems that seemed determined not to hear them.
When Ivanka finally calmed down Jack moved to the next step.
“I need everything you have.
Private investigator reports, copies of the original police files, the autopsy and anything connected to witnesses.”
Ivanka wiped her eyes.
“Most of it is in the study safe.”
Jack followed her into the apartment’s study.
One wall was filled with psychology, neuroscience and law books while the opposite side displayed several watercolor paintings created by Bella Anderson.
Ivanka moved several heavy books from one shelf and revealed a built-in safe.
She entered the combination then used a small key to open the second lock.
There was no money or jewelry inside.
Instead Jack found carefully organized folders, hard drives and several preserved evidence items.
Ivanka removed everything and placed it across the large desk.
“This is everything.”
Her fingers rested briefly on the top folder.
Jack pulled out a chair and opened it.
The first documents were copies of the original police reports from Bella Anderson’s death.
Some pages had already yellowed with age.
Jack began working through them one at a time.
He had fired his weapon during the Neil Vance hostage incident the previous day and wasn’t expected back at Intelligence until Hank contacted him.
Ivanka also canceled her appointments and stayed beside him while they went through twelve years of accumulated material.
Hours disappeared.
Ivanka explained names and dates while Jack reorganized information into a structure he could understand.
Reports, witness statements, financial connections and political relationships gradually spread across the study floor.
By three in the afternoon neither of them had eaten properly.
A large case map now covered much of the floor.
At its center was Brian Anderson.
The farther Jack followed the connections the larger Brian’s network became.
Police officials, judges, prosecutors, business executives, political figures and other influential people appeared throughout Ivanka’s records.
Ivanka stared down at it.
For the first time she could see Brian’s entire sphere of influence laid out in front of her.
The sight was crushing.
“How do you fight all of this?”
Jack remained silent as he studied the map.
Then something clicked.
“Ivanka.”
She looked up.
“I think your evidence is better than you realize.”
Her eyes widened.
“The problem isn’t that you never found anything.” Jack pointed toward several sections of the case map.
“You kept finding pieces that pointed toward Brian.
But every time you got close to connecting those pieces the last link disappeared.”
“A witness changed their story.
A document vanished.
An investigator quit.”
Ivanka slowly nodded.
“And where did all of that happen?”
“New York.”
“Exactly.” Jack leaned back.
“Brian turned New York into his fortress.
Every time you found something you tried to use it against him inside the place where he has the most influence.”
Ivanka’s shoulders dropped.
Jack continued.
“You were bringing evidence into a system filled with his people.
That gave him the chance to see the attack coming and shut it down.”
“That’s why I almost stopped.” Ivanka sank into a chair and held her head.
“Every time I thought I was getting somewhere another wall appeared.
I can’t fight all of them alone.”
“You don’t have to.”
Ivanka immediately looked up.
Jack pointed toward Brian’s photograph.
“Right now I see two possible approaches.”
She stood so quickly Jack reached out to steady her.
“The first is finding some legitimate reason that forces Brian outside New York.” Jack tapped one section of the records.
“If his biggest advantage is his home territory then we take that advantage away.”
Ivanka frowned.
“He almost never leaves.”
“I noticed.” Jack nodded.
“According to your files he hasn’t left New York in about fifteen years.
So that option isn’t going to be easy.”
“What’s the second?”
“We find the weakest part of his network.”
Jack traced several lines branching away from Brian’s name.
“Not Brian himself.
Someone around him who can be pressured legally or exposed.
We break one connection and use that opening to reach the next.”
Ivanka stared at the web of names.
“One piece at a time,” Jack said.
“We keep moving until his protection starts falling apart.”
“And my mother?”
Jack took her hand.
“That may be the last thing we use against him instead of the first.”
Ivanka’s expression tightened.
“We’ve been thinking about it backward.” Jack looked toward Bella’s case files.
“You tried to use your mother’s death to bring Brian down.
But his power keeps blocking the murder case.”
“So first we weaken Brian.”
“Then we go back to Bella.” Jack nodded.
“Once he can’t control the witnesses, records and people around the investigation we make him answer for what happened to her.”
Ivanka slowly looked around the study.
For the first time the enormous case map no longer looked completely hopeless.
Jack squeezed her hand.
“This won’t happen overnight.
It could take months.
Maybe years.
We could hit dead ends and have to start over.”
“Can you wait?”
Ivanka smiled through fresh tears.
“I’ve already waited twelve years.”
She stepped closer.
“I can wait longer if I know someone believes me.”
“I believe you.”
Jack pulled her into his arms.
“And I’ll help you.”
Ivanka kissed him and Jack responded without hesitation.
For several seconds the case files and Brian Anderson disappeared from both of their minds.
Then Jack’s phone rang.
The sound immediately broke the moment.
Jack checked the screen.
Hank Voight.
He gave Ivanka a helpless look before answering.
“Hank?”
The familiar rough voice came through the phone.
“Jack, I need you.
It’s a private job…”
By the time the call ended Ivanka had already started gathering Jack’s clothes.
She helped him get ready without asking questions and straightened his jacket when he was finished.
“Be careful.” She kissed him once.
“I’ll wait for you to come back.”
Ivanka walked with him all the way to the garage.
She stayed there as Jack climbed into the Mercedes-AMG GT and drove away.