“Right side!
Move right!
Hurry!” The Intelligence Unit rushed through Midway International Airport at full speed, pushing toward the security checkpoint that separated them from the maintenance area.
Hank Voight had no idea what Derek Keyes was doing to Adrian, and every second they lost could matter.
The moment the armed Intelligence officers reached the checkpoint, several airport police officers drew their weapons and blocked the passage.
“Don’t move!
Stop right there!” one of them shouted while the others aimed directly at the approaching team.
Antonio Dawson, Alvin Olinsky, Adam Ruzek, Kevin Atwater, and the others immediately stopped and raised their hands enough to show they weren’t a threat.
Antonio grabbed his CPD star and held it where the officers could clearly see it.
“Chicago Police Department!
Intelligence Unit!” he shouted.
“We’ve got an officer inside.
Let us through!” The airport officers remained tense and refused to lower their weapons.
“Back up!
Everybody back up!” one of them ordered while keeping his pistol leveled at Antonio.
With multiple armed people suddenly charging a restricted airport checkpoint, none of them were willing to take chances.
Hank stormed forward with his badge raised, his face red with anger.
“Are you blind?
Chicago Police!
Sergeant Hank Voight!” he shouted in his gravelly voice.
“One of my officers is in there, so open this checkpoint and let us through now!” The force of Hank’s roar finally broke the standoff.
The airport officers exchanged uncertain looks before one of them lowered his weapon and motioned the others aside.
“Let them through.” Hank didn’t waste another second.
Intelligence pushed through the checkpoint and ran toward the maintenance hangar as fast as they could.
Unfortunately, by the time they reached it, the black SUV Derek and his men had arrived in was already gone.
Only the aftermath remained.
“Body over here!” someone shouted as the team spread through the hangar.
Antonio immediately raised his radio and reported, “Central, Intelligence.
We have one confirmed deceased and one Chicago police officer abducted.” Around them, the abandoned hangar contained little more than blood, scattered evidence, and the remains of the undercover operation.
Hank stopped beside Benji Keyes’s body and stared down at the gunshot wound in his head.
He had expected Derek to be dangerous, but he hadn’t expected him to execute his own brother without hesitation.
If Derek could do that to Benji, Adrian’s chances of being treated with restraint were almost nonexistent.
Antonio approached Hank with a grim expression.
“Benji was my informant.
I brought him into this, so if somebody’s responsible—” Hank cut him off before he could finish because he had no interest in assigning blame while Adrian was missing.
“Find that SUV.” Antonio nodded immediately.
“Already checking, but it wasn’t running plates.
I’ll put the description out to every patrol unit we can reach.” Hank’s expression remained dark as he turned toward Alvin.
“Alvin, dig into airport security and those access passes they used to get through restricted areas.
I want to know where they came from.” “No problem,” Alvin replied.
He motioned for several officers to follow him while Antonio moved off to coordinate the vehicle search.
Hank remained behind for a moment, staring at Benji’s body and the shattered remains of Adrian’s hidden camera.
Adam stood nearby with both hands on his hips, unable to hide his worry.
“Derek just killed his own brother,” he said quietly.
“If he’s willing to do that to Benji, what the hell is he going to do to Adrian?” Hank didn’t answer because every possibility running through his mind was worse than the last.
Elsewhere in Chicago, Adrian slowly regained consciousness in a basement.
His outer clothing had been stripped away during the search, his wrists and ankles were tightly restrained, and he had been suspended in the middle of the room where he couldn’t properly support his own weight.
Derek stood in front of him with three armed men nearby.
“Hey.” Derek slapped Adrian lightly across the face.
“Wake up.
You’ve got some questions to answer.” Adrian’s face was covered in cold sweat as Derek grabbed his jaw and forced his head upward.
“Tell me everything you know about Intelligence’s informants on the North Side.” Adrian struggled to focus through the pain before answering in a low voice, “Never.” The truth was almost ironic.
Adrian had joined Intelligence that very morning and knew practically nothing about the unit’s confidential informant network, even if he had wanted to talk.
More importantly, he understood that giving Derek useful information wouldn’t save his life; it would simply remove another reason to keep him alive.
Derek released Adrian’s face without showing any anger and stepped backward.
A small gesture from him was enough for two of his men to move forward with baseball bats.
They swung hard into Adrian’s back, making his entire body jerk against the restraints as a muffled groan escaped him.
Before Adrian could recover, another man shoved the stun baton against his side.
Electricity ripped through his body again, forcing every muscle to seize as his vision blurred.
The shock was so intense that for several seconds he couldn’t even force out a scream.
While his men continued working Adrian over, Derek positioned himself in front of a phone camera.
His expression was calm, almost conversational, as though he were recording an ordinary business message rather than standing beside a kidnapped police officer.
“Your guy’s tough.
You should be proud of him.” Derek glanced toward Adrian before continuing.
“But you know what happens next if you don’t cooperate.
I want every Intelligence informant file you’ve got connected to the North Side, and that’s the price for getting your officer back alive.” His voice remained cold and controlled throughout the recording.
“Bring the files to 39th Street and California Avenue tomorrow morning at nine,” Derek continued.
“One female officer, one box.
No cameras, no wires, no guns, and nobody following her.” He leaned slightly closer to the camera.
“Do exactly what I said, and maybe you get your guy back.
Try anything else, and your officer ends up dumped in an Indiana cornfield where nobody finds him until he’s fertilizer.” With that, Derek ended the recording and handed the phone to one of his men.
“Send it.” The subordinate took the phone and stepped away while Derek looked back at Adrian.
Hanging limply from the restraints, Adrian’s body was covered in bruises from the repeated beating and electrical shocks.
Anyone watching him would have assumed he was barely conscious.
Before receiving the Punisher System’s 30% Vitality increase, punishment like this might already have left Adrian completely incapacitated.
Now his body could endure considerably more, even though every strike still hurt and the electrical shocks had taken a serious toll.
Beneath the exhausted appearance, his mind remained clear enough to watch Derek’s men and study the room.
Adrian wasn’t finished.
He was waiting for an opportunity.
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