A child had been murdered, and Rochelle Doran had just admitted that Richard had gone to do what he believed a father should do.
That answer was enough for Intelligence to move immediately.
Within minutes, officers were racing back toward the Doran neighborhood.
When Antonio Dawson, Adam Ruzek, and Jesse reached Richard’s garage, muffled shouting and groans were already coming from inside.
“Talk!
Come on, talk!” someone yelled, followed by the unmistakable sound of another blow landing.
The officers exchanged a quick look and rushed through the entrance with their weapons raised.
“Chicago Police!
Hands up!” Antonio shouted.
“Drop everything and get your hands where we can see them!” Inside the garage, Richard Doran stood over Darren Woodhall with a baseball bat while another man held a heavy wrench stained with blood.
Darren was sprawled on the floor, his face swollen and bruised almost beyond recognition.
The moment Richard saw the police, he stopped and slowly lowered the bat.
The other man followed his example and placed the wrench on the ground.
“Are you out of your mind?” Antonio snapped as he kicked the baseball bat away.
He glared at Richard with open fury because whatever suspicions they had about Darren, beating a confession out of him in a garage was not justice.
Hank Voight arrived seconds later and looked equally disgusted by what he saw.
Adam crouched near Darren and quickly checked his condition.
“We need an ambulance.
Now.” Darren was barely responsive, and his breathing sounded strained after the beating.
Paramedics arrived soon afterward and loaded Darren onto a stretcher.
Once he had been taken away, Antonio turned toward the second man and opened the information they had just pulled on him.
“Damien Boyd.” Antonio looked directly at him.
“You helping your friend get revenge?” Damien didn’t appear ashamed.
“If somebody did that to my kid, Richard would help me too.” He gestured toward the neighborhood and added, “We look out for each other here.
Our families, our kids, our homes.” Antonio exhaled slowly.
“And how exactly did you decide Darren Woodhall was Jeremy’s killer?” Damien answered without hesitation.
“Because everybody knows what Darren is.” “He has a record,” Antonio replied.
“That doesn’t make him Jeremy’s murderer.” Damien shook his head.
“He watched Jeremy.
I saw him around when Jeremy was leaving school.” His expression hardened as he added, “Guy always gave everybody the creeps.” Whatever else Damien believed, none of it was proof.
Antonio had already seen where assumptions had led them, and the badly beaten man being carried away by paramedics was enough evidence of that.
“We investigate facts, Damien.
Not whatever somebody decides feels true.” Damien scoffed.
“He was about to confess before you came in.” He looked at Antonio as though Intelligence had interrupted something useful.
“You should be thanking us.
We were solving your case for you.” Antonio stared at him coldly.
“If evidence says Darren did it, we’ll deal with him.” Damien frowned.
Antonio pulled out his handcuffs.
“But right now, you’re under arrest.” Richard and Damien were both taken into custody for kidnapping and assault.
By the time everyone returned to the 21st District, Intelligence still had more questions than answers.
Before Antonio could even begin a formal interrogation, Erin Lindsay hurried toward him.
“Antonio, we have a problem,” Erin said.
“Patrol just called from the North Side.” Her expression was serious enough to make everyone nearby stop what they were doing.
Damien looked up from the interrogation room.
Erin continued, “Damien Boyd’s son is missing.” Damien froze.
For a moment, he simply stared at her as if the words hadn’t registered.
“No.
That’s impossible.” He stood abruptly and said, “I saw him this morning.” Antonio stepped closer.
“How old is he?” Damien’s breathing became uneven.
“Seven.” He swallowed hard.
“He’s in first grade.” His panic exploded almost immediately.
“No, no, no.
I have to go find him!” Antonio pushed him back toward the chair.
“You’re not going anywhere.
You’re under arrest for kidnapping and assault.” Damien struggled against the situation.
“That’s my son!” “Then help us,” Antonio snapped.
“If you know anything that could matter, tell us now.” Damien shook his head frantically.
“I swear to God, I don’t know anything.” Antonio studied him for another moment before turning away.
The timing was impossible to ignore: Damien’s son had disappeared at approximately three that afternoon, while Damien and Richard had been inside the garage beating Darren.
That meant Darren couldn’t have abducted the second child.
A few minutes later, Antonio returned upstairs and explained everything to the rest of Intelligence.
“Damien Boyd’s son disappeared around three.
At that exact time, Damien and Richard were busy trying to beat a confession out of Darren.” The room went quiet.
Antonio looked toward the case board.
“We were looking in the wrong direction.” Somewhere in the investigation, they had missed something important.
At that moment, Adrian Knight lowered his phone and turned toward Hank.
“Forensics just came back on the blood from Darren’s car.” Everyone looked toward him.
Adrian continued, “It’s Jeremy Doran’s blood.” Hank’s expression hardened.
“They estimate it was left there about two days ago,” Adrian added.
“So Darren’s car was almost certainly used to transport Jeremy to the dumping site.” That should have strengthened the case against Darren, but Adrian had already been bothered by how obvious the blood was.
He looked toward Hank and said, “Maybe we should focus on the car itself.” Hank frowned.
“Meaning?” “Someone else could’ve used it,” Adrian replied.
Hank immediately asked, “Who had access?” Adrian didn’t hesitate.
“Darren’s car was sitting at the repair shop for six days.” He paused.
“The owner is Kurt Hollister.” Hank’s eyes sharpened.
“Go find him.” Adrian and Alvin Olinsky immediately left the district and headed back to the repair shop.
When they arrived, Kurt was nowhere in sight.
One of the employees approached them and asked what they needed.
“We’re looking for Kurt Hollister,” Adrian said.
The worker shrugged.
“He left a few hours ago.” Alvin asked, “Say where he was going?” “No.” Adrian and Alvin exchanged a glance.
That was enough to raise the level of concern.
Alvin’s attention shifted toward Kurt’s office.
“We need to check inside.” The employee looked uncomfortable.
“I don’t have a key.” Alvin didn’t waste time arguing.
He stepped back and kicked the office door hard enough to break the lock.
The wooden door swung inward, and Adrian immediately moved inside while scanning the room for anything unusual.
Alvin followed and headed toward a second door at the rear.
Behind it was a small storage room.
Locked.
Alvin examined the door and sighed.
“Looks like this one’s coming open too.” Adrian stepped forward to shoulder it.
Alvin immediately stopped him.
“No, no.” Adrian looked at him.
“You just got out of the hospital,” Alvin said.
“I’m not explaining to Voight why you tore yourself open kicking down a storage-room door.” He pulled Adrian aside.
Then Alvin backed up and slammed into the door himself.
The lock gave way with a heavy crack.
The storage room was small, probably less than a hundred square feet.
Shelves lined the walls, and several tools and boxes had been stacked around the cramped interior.
But one object immediately drew Adrian’s attention.
A large freezer.
Adrian’s stomach tightened.
After Jeremy, he had developed an understandable dislike of abandoned refrigerators and freezers appearing in criminal investigations.
He stared at it for several seconds before saying, “We need to open that.” Alvin didn’t seem nearly as bothered.
He walked directly toward the freezer and lifted the lid.
Adrian had already prepared himself for something bad.
Unfortunately, he was right.
There was a body inside.
But this time, it wasn’t a child.
It was an adult.