Back at the 21st District Intelligence Unit, every new piece of information was being pulled together as quickly as possible.
Kurt Hollister was now their primary target, and his last confirmed location had been his repair shop roughly four hours earlier.
Officers had already been sent to his home, while an AMBER Alert had gone out for the missing child along with Kurt and his vehicle.
The adult body Adrian Knight and Alvin Olinsky discovered in the freezer had also been identified.
His name was Ray Malone, thirty-eight years old, with a long history of theft-related arrests.
More importantly, investigators had discovered that Ray had attended high school with both Richard Doran and Damien Boyd.
That connection immediately raised another question.
Three men from the same neighborhood had grown up together, one was now dead inside Kurt Hollister’s freezer, and the children of the other two had become targets.
Whatever was happening clearly hadn’t started with Jeremy Doran’s murder.
Inside an interrogation room, Adrian sat with a notebook while Hank Voight questioned Damien directly.
Hank placed Ray Malone’s information on the table and asked, “Ray Malone.
What do you want to tell us about him?” Damien stared at the photograph for several seconds before sadness slowly replaced the anger on his face.
“Ray…” Damien said quietly.
“Ray was probably the unluckiest guy I ever knew.
We all grew up together.” He looked between Hank and Adrian.
“Me, Richard, and Ray.” Damien fell silent for a moment as if deciding how much of the past he was finally willing to reveal.
When he spoke again, his voice was lower.
“About eighteen years ago, we made a mistake.” Hank didn’t interrupt.
Damien continued, “One night, Ray and Richard were in Ray’s backyard.
They were messing around with Ray’s dad’s gun.” His jaw tightened before he added, “Then it went off.” Adrian’s pen stopped briefly against the paper.
Damien stared down at the table.
“There was a kid near the end of the alley.” His voice became strained.
“The bullet hit him.” The interrogation room went completely quiet.
Hank’s expression remained hard, but even he understood immediately where the story was heading.
Damien rubbed both hands over his face before forcing himself to continue.
“It was an accident,” Damien said.
“A stupid, horrible accident.” He swallowed.
“But that didn’t help the kid.” Damien explained that panic had taken over almost immediately.
Instead of calling for help, Richard and Ray moved the child’s body toward a house near the end of the block and then ran to Damien’s home.
Damien had been studying for final exams when his terrified friends showed up asking him to help hide the gun.
“I helped them,” Damien admitted.
His voice was filled with regret now.
“I hid the gun.” He slowly shook his head.
“Next morning, the whole neighborhood was grieving.” Adrian looked up from his notes.
The timeline, Kurt’s hatred toward Darren, and the revenge against Jeremy suddenly formed a much clearer picture.
“The child who was shot…” Damien closed his eyes.
“Kurt Hollister’s son?” Adrian asked.
“Yeah,” Damien whispered.
That single answer changed the entire case.
Kurt had lost his child because of something Richard, Ray, and Damien had helped cover up nearly two decades earlier.
Now Ray was dead, Jeremy had been murdered, and Damien’s seven-year-old son was missing.
Whatever Kurt had planned wasn’t random at all.
It was revenge.
Damien slowly looked toward Hank.
All of his earlier anger had disappeared, replaced by fear.
“Do you think my son is still alive?” Before Hank could answer, the interrogation-room door opened and Erin Lindsay appeared.
Her expression made it obvious she had urgent news.
“We found Kurt’s car.” Hank immediately stood.
“Patrol’s already on scene,” Erin continued.
“We need to move.” The AMBER Alert had been pushed out after investigators confirmed the child was likely in immediate danger.
Alerts like that could rapidly spread descriptions of the missing child, suspect, and vehicle through police systems, phones, road signs, broadcasters, and other public channels.
In a case where every minute mattered, thousands of extra eyes across the city could become part of the search.
Intelligence moved immediately.
A patrol unit reached Kurt’s vehicle first and reported its location near a large public park.
Two officers carefully checked the abandoned car while waiting for Intelligence and additional units to arrive.
There was no sign of Kurt or Damien’s son inside.
“5021, suspect vehicle located,” an officer reported over the radio.
“We’re standing by it now.” The second officer checked the surrounding area.
“Vehicle is empty.
No sign of the child.” A short time later, several Intelligence vehicles pulled up near the park.
Adrian stepped out and looked across the crowded green space.
“A park?” People were everywhere.
Families walked along the paths, children played nearby, and joggers moved through the open areas.
The crowd created an obvious danger if Kurt was armed, but it also meant dozens of people could have seen the AMBER Alert or noticed someone matching his description.
In this case, the number of witnesses could work in the police department’s favor.
Hank and the others had barely started moving away from the vehicles when a scream suddenly came from farther inside the park.
“He’s here!” Another voice immediately followed.
“Over here!” Every member of Intelligence turned toward the sound.
Hank raised one arm.
“Go!
Move!” The team broke into a run.
“Police!
Move aside!” “Clear the path!” “Everybody move away from this area!” Officers pushed through the park while shouting for civilians to get clear.
Most people immediately scattered when they saw armed police running toward them, while several others pointed urgently toward one side of the park.
“He’s over there!” “That way!” Supporting patrol units arrived with sirens sounding and began sealing off nearby exits.
Adrian scanned through the moving crowd as he ran, searching faces and bodies until something finally caught his attention.
A stocky man was pushing through people ahead of them while carrying a child.
Kurt Hollister.
Adrian immediately recognized him.
Kurt was trying to run, but carrying a seven-year-old boy made it impossible to move quickly.
People scattered away from him as soon as they realized what was happening, creating an open path that made him even easier for police to track.
With officers approaching from several directions, Kurt soon realized he wasn’t going to outrun them.
He stopped in an open area.
Police surrounded him from a distance.
Pistols came up almost simultaneously.
“Hollister!” one officer shouted.
“Stop right there!” “Don’t move!” Hank stepped forward enough to make himself clearly visible.
“Kurt!
Stay where you are.” His voice remained forceful but controlled.
“Don’t do anything stupid.” For one second, Kurt simply stood there breathing heavily.
Then everything changed.
He grabbed Damien’s son and dragged the child tightly against his body.
Several officers reacted instantly, but nobody fired.
Kurt pulled a pistol.
The muzzle went directly against the seven-year-old boy’s head.
The child froze in terror.
“Easy!” Hank shouted.
“Nobody’s rushing you.” Kurt’s eyes moved wildly across the officers surrounding him.
Adrian held his Glock 17 in both hands and started advancing carefully.
Every step shortened the distance between him and Kurt without creating a sudden movement that might panic the desperate man.
Around twenty meters separated them at first.
Adrian kept moving.
Nineteen.
Eighteen.
Seventeen.
His eyes remained fixed on Kurt’s weapon and the terrified child trapped against him.
Sixteen meters.
Then fifteen.
Adrian’s grip tightened slightly around his pistol.
[Goal Tracker]