End of the Line

by C. M. Sutter

  The video activated again when we left a half hour later. The perp was next, and according to Beth Dupont, he’d arrived only ten minutes after we left.

  I sat on the edge of my seat. Any second, we’d see him. Suddenly, the camera came to life and caught a man walking up the sidewalk thirty feet out.

  “Here comes the son of a bitch,” Lutz said. “Wait until he presses the buzzer, and then stop the footage.”

  My finger hovered over the Pause button. We needed him as close to the camera as possible.

  Seconds later, Lutz yelled out. “Ready—now!”

  I pressed Pause then released the breath I’d been holding. We had him.

  Chapter 56

  Lutz rose from my guest chair and paced the bullpen. “Get Todd up here.”

  I reached across my desk, grabbed the receiver off the base, and dialed our tech department. “Todd, it’s Jesse. We need you in the bullpen right away.” I hung up and stared into the face of the man who had killed Callie, Brad, Manny, and Diana. And for all we knew, many of the unsolved murder cases over the last year or more could have been at his hands.

  “Take a picture of his face and get it to everyone’s phone immediately. Frank, Henry, and Shawn need to know who to watch out for.”

  I texted the killer’s face to the phones of every detective in our department as well as to the officers who hung back at Frank’s house. A minute later, a call came in from Henry.

  “Hey, Jesse. We got the picture and just boarded the train at the Indiana station. Frank said he’s sitting on the platform at Forty-Seventh Street and keeping an eye out for the perp.”

  “Okay, great. Todd is on his way up, and he’ll let us know if the image is good enough to enter into the database.” I gave Lutz a thumbs-up. All we needed was the man’s name and an address. As soon as we had that, the killer wouldn’t have any power over us by using Gina as a bargaining chip. We’d pick him up and throw him in jail, and he’d never see the light of day again.

  Todd entered the bullpen five minutes later with his laptop tucked under his arm. I pushed aside the files on my desk and made space for it. With him at my side, we’d tweak the footage until it was good enough to upload into the facial recognition database.

  “Let’s see what you have.” Todd rolled Frank’s desk chair next to mine and opened his laptop then peered at the man’s face on my screen. He pointed. “Advance it slowly, just a hair. I need his face squared up better on the screen.”

  I stood. “Switch places with me. I’d rather have you do it.”

  “Sure.” Todd took over my spot and inched the footage ahead. “Damn it, too much.” He backed it up and tried again. “There, that ought to do it. Now, I’ll email it to my in-box and then upload it into the database. The system uses biometrics to map out dozens of facial features, so I need to have the best image of him possible in order to get a hit.” He frowned at us. “That’s if he’s in the criminal database at all.”

  We waited as Todd worked his magic. With the perp’s face in the system and the points indicated, we watched as the software got to work.

  Lutz checked the time. “How long will it take?”

  Todd shrugged. “If he’s in the system, it’ll hit pretty quickly. Otherwise, it’ll keep scanning while it tries to locate him. Should be less than ten minutes if his face is in the database.”

  “What are our options?” I asked. Although we knew the database was a useful asset, none of us had ever asked about it or watched how it worked.

  “We can check criminal, military, government, and institutional databases.”

  It sounded overwhelming, but we had no choice but to wait. I stepped to the back of the room and called Frank’s cell.

  “What have we got, partner?”

  “Waiting for the train. Henry said they’re in the fourth car from the front. I hear it heading my way, and the digital board shows it’s arriving.”

  “No sign of the killer yet?”

  “All clear so far.”

  “Okay, good. We’re trying to find him in the facial recognition database, and I’ll keep you posted.”

  “Gotta go.”

  Frank hung up in my ear before I had the chance to tell him to stay safe. I returned to my desk and watched Todd’s computer screen with the rest of the guys.

  Fifteen minutes later, Todd paused the search. “He’s not in the criminal database.”

  “Shit.” I mentally went over the other options he’d told us about earlier. “It’s doubtful he was a government agent in any capacity, or in the military, although some people do suffer from PTSD if they were exposed to horrific combat situations.”

  “Let’s check in order of most probable,” Lutz said. “Go with people who’ve been institutionalized first, then military, and finally government employees.”

  “Okay, I’ll change the search parameters and get it rolling.”

  Worried, I paced the bullpen. I was sure Frank, Henry, and Shawn would be fine even if they spotted the perp, but time was of the essence. If they apprehended him without us knowing who he was or where he lived, the chance of finding Gina was slim to none. Timing was everything, but for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why he chose to target Frank.

  “We’ve got him!” Todd yelled as the screen flashed with a green match alert.

  I spun and ran to his side. “Who is he? Where does he live?”

  Todd began reading the details aloud. “His name is Richard Hill, and he spent two years at the Chester Mental Health Center in Chester, Illinois, but this is strange.”

  “What’s that?” I asked.

  “There’s an attachment in his records about his father.”

  “Why his father?”

  Lutz interrupted. “Find Richard’s address, Kip, and do it now.”

  “On it, Boss.”

  “Sorry, go ahead, Todd,” Lutz said.

  “Evidently, his father, Ronald Hill, was a convicted murderer who died in prison years ago.” Todd typed the name into the search bar, and a slew of information came up. “Okay, here’s the father’s story. When Richard was sixteen, Ronald enlisted his help in the murderous crimes he committed. He actually made Richard go along to the scenes. They’d break into single women’s homes at night, kill them, and then steal everything of value. The article says the father told Richard it was a genetic disorder and that Richard was predisposed to kill. He wouldn’t be able to stop himself, so he should accept his fate and lend a hand. When they were finally apprehended, Ronald went to prison, and Richard was sent to Chester. He was released back into society at age eighteen but with conditions. He needed to have quarterly psychiatric evaluations and be on antipsychotic medications for life.”

  I raked my hair. “Well, something set him off again, and now his MO is far different than before. He isn’t murdering women in their homes just to rob them. It seems like he’s killing for the pure pleasure of killing.”

  “Listen to this,” Todd said. “Richard was married, and then his wife up and disappeared just over seven years ago. There was a police investigation into her disappearance but no conviction. She was never found dead or alive.”

  “Yeah, and I’m sure Richard had plenty to do with that.”

  Lutz nodded. “Who knows? She could have done something to set him off, and she may have been his first solo murder victim.”

  Kip called out that he had Richard’s DMV information pulled up. “Richard Hill is thirty-nine years old with dark-brown hair and blue eyes. He’s five foot ten and weighs two hundred pounds.”

  Lutz cut in. “His address? What’s his address?”

  “He lives on Thirty-First and South Wells.”

  Lutz jerked his chin at the door. “Let’s go. I’ll have Patrol put eyes on the residence until we get there. Suit up, boys. We’re going in vested, and remember to silence your sirens and lights ten blocks out.”

  We were off within minutes. As Lutz barreled out of the parking lot, I called Frank and told him we’d learned th
e killer’s name. We were en route to Richard Hill’s house and hoped to find Gina there alive and unharmed.

  “Any sighting of him?” I asked again.

  “Nothing yet. We’re each sitting in a different subway car, and we’re getting close to the end at Ashland.”

  “We need him as far away from his house as possible. If any of you get eyes on him, text me, and stay safe.”

  “You, too, partner.”

  Richard’s home was twenty blocks north of our precinct and only an eight-minute drive. We made it in six.

  Chapter 57

  Lutz turned left onto Thirty-First Street with Kip closing in on our rear bumper. Our lights and sirens had been silenced several minutes earlier. South Wells was two blocks west of us, and we inched closer to the intersection.

  “Right there.” I pointed at the set of squad cars parked four houses up.

  Lutz slowed to a crawl and pulled in behind the last police car. The officers, with their elbows on the trunk of the first patrol car, were watching farther up the street through binoculars.

  “What have we got?” Lutz asked.

  “Commander.” Jefferson nodded. “The house on the left just before the next intersection is the home in question. We haven’t seen any movement but decided to hang back a good distance until you arrived.”

  “Do we know the layout of the home? Doors, window locations, etcetera?”

  “No, sir.”

  Lutz tipped his head at Kip. “Take off that sports jacket and tie. Grab a clipboard from one of those squad cars and walk past the home. I want a count on every front- and side-facing door and window. Circle the block and then come back here from behind.”

  “Got it.” Kip altered his appearance to look more casual, removed his gun, holster, and badge, and was handed a clipboard. He took off on foot.

  “We need a heat-seeking drone. Who has one?”

  “The precinct on Halstead does, Commander, and they’re only a few blocks away.”

  “Get them on the horn and have that brought out here. I want the drone hovering above that house in under fifteen minutes. Hurry!”

  Jefferson bolted to his car to make the call.

  We watched as Kip slowed his pace near the house.

  I whispered as I grabbed a set of binoculars. “Don’t make yourself conspicuous, just keep walking.” My phone vibrated in my pocket as I watched Kip pass the house and turn the corner. I let out a relieved breath and answered. It was Frank calling.

  “Jesse, we have eyes on Richard Hill.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “Absolutely. According to Henry, he’s staring a hole through me, but I’m ignoring him.”

  “Good. We’re at the house but erring on the side of caution. There’s no way to know if Richard has someone inside guarding Gina or not. The Halstead precinct is sending over their heat-seeking drone and operator, and he’ll be here in a matter of minutes. As soon as we breach the house and see if Gina is inside and safe, I’ll text you. That’s when you three will apprehend Hill. Be careful, though. There’s a lot of innocent people in subway stations and cars.”

  “Roger that. We’ll wait for your okay and take him down only when it’s safe to do so.”

  I clicked off the call and looked over my shoulder toward the sound at our backs. Kip was walking our way, and driving behind him was one of our police department’s SUVs. It had to be the officer with the drone. I nudged Lutz and tipped my head. “It’s showtime.”

  As the officer set up the drone, we got the house’s details from Kip.

  “There’s only the front door. No garage facing the street. A picture window is next to the door, the north side of the house has two windows, probably bedrooms, and the south side has a window, likely the kitchen, and a slider that goes out to a small concrete patio. There’s one more door that leads out to the parking space in the alley, and a small window to that door’s left, likely the bathroom. That’s it.”

  “We’ll be heading south on either Wells or the alley, but let’s see what the drone shows before making a final decision. According to Frank, Hill is on the train. Our main concern now is to find out if Gina is inside and alone or if there’s more than one person who shows up on the heat sensor.” Lutz checked with the drone operator. “How much longer?”

  “I’m sending it up now, so we should know something in less than a minute.”

  The excitement was overwhelming. I wanted to get inside that house and, if Gina was there, make sure she was alive and okay. We needed to see the screen on the drone’s monitor glow red, hopefully in only one area of the home.

  We crowded around the operator and watched the drone as it closed in on Richard’s house.

  “Any second now.” The operator guided the drone over the house, barely skimming the roofline.

  “There!” I pointed at a red figure centered on the screen. The shape was definitely human, and the person appeared to be sitting on the floor. “That has to be Gina. It looks like her arms are behind her back.”

  Lutz agreed. “She’s got to be tied up, and look, her legs are pressed together too.” He turned to the operator. “Go over the entire house one more time. I need to know with one hundred percent certainty that there isn’t another person inside.”

  The drone made another pass, and the operator confirmed it. “Only one person inside, sir, and possibly a pet. It’s small like a cat.”

  “Okay, that’s good enough for me.” Lutz gave the order, and Jefferson grabbed the ram from the trunk of his car. We moved in and surrounded the house. Jefferson, Lutz, and I had the front door. Kip had the side door, and Tony and Officer Moore had the rear exit at the alley. On Lutz’s command, Jefferson hit the door with the ram, and we stormed in.

  I saw Gina right away. She was lying in a fetal position on the floor between the living room and kitchen. Her hands were zip-tied to the wrought iron railing at her back, and her legs were bound at the ankles. Her knees were pulled up to her chest. Gina righted herself and jerked her head back and forth as she tried to dislodge the rag that filled her mouth. Tears sprang from her eyes when she realized it was me. I ran to her side while everyone else cleared the house. She was a mess, and it was obvious that Richard had done a number on her. Cuts and bruises covered her face. A deep purple lump the size of a golf ball protruded from her forehead, and both eyes were black and blue. Those were just her obvious injuries. I pulled the rags from her mouth, and she cried out.

  “Hold still for a second while I cut those zip ties.” I pulled my penknife from my pocket and cut her restraints.

  Gina threw her arms around my neck and cried. “Hold me.”

  “I’ve got you kiddo, and you’re going to be fine.” I yelled out for Jefferson to call an ambulance while I helped Gina to the couch. “Give me just a second. I have to let Frank know the good news.” It was time to act, and I hoped Frank, Henry, and Shawn had planned Richard’s takedown. I sent a text that simply said, “We have Gina, and she’ll be okay, so apprehend that bastard, but do it safely.”

  Ten minutes later, the EMTs had Gina loaded in the ambulance. I told Gina that Frank and I would check on her as soon as we could. I patted the EMT on the shoulder as he closed the rear doors. “She doesn’t have any family, so make sure she’s well taken care of.”

  With a nod, he climbed in behind the wheel and drove away.

  Chapter 58

  Frank forwarded the text from Jesse to Henry and Shawn then added his own suggestion. “Ashland is the end of the line, so we all have to exit the train in a few minutes. Make sure to keep close to Richard since he’ll likely try to attack me. No matter what, keep him away from innocent people if at all possible. I’ll try to lead him away from the crowds so we can apprehend him safely. Call me when we exit the train so I know what’s going on behind me.”

  A text from Henry came in seconds later. “Good to hear that Gina will be okay. I’ll stay about twenty feet behind Richard, and Shawn said he’ll get ahead of him, closer to you, as a b
uffer. I’ll call you as soon as I see him exit the train.”

  Frank looked beyond Richard to the car after him and locked eyes with Henry. That was confirmation that the plan was acknowledged and would go forward.

  People in the seats gathered their belongings while others grasped the poles in preparation for exiting the subway as it jostled back and forth to its final destination. The brakes screeched against the tracks as the train slowed to a stop at Ashland and Sixty-Third Street. The doors parted on each car, and people spilled out and went every which way.

  After turning left out of the train, Frank answered his phone. He told Henry he was headed toward the restrooms, where fewer people were milling around.

  “Where is Richard right now?”

  “Pushing through the crowd but still forty feet behind you. Shawn is almost at his side. He’ll get in front of Richard, and if there aren’t many people around, we’ll ambush him then. Shawn’s directly in front of him, I’ll be behind him, and you can be the muscle that cuffs him.”

  “I’m good with that,” Frank said.

  “Give it another thirty seconds.”

  Frank walked alongside the tracks as he tried to keep his distance from people coming and going.

  Henry sounded frantic on the phone. “Frank, I lost him in the crowd. I can’t see either of you anymore. Where are you?”

  “Next to the tracks, but I can’t turn back to look for you. Where’s Shawn?”

  “I can only see the top of his head. He’s a good distance in front of me, though.”

  When he heard a commotion at his back, Frank dropped his phone in his pocket. He spun at the sound of Shawn’s voice. Crowds of people behind Frank screamed and scattered, then he saw them. Ten feet behind him stood Richard with his arm around Shawn’s throat. He pressed a knife against Shawn’s carotid artery, and from the look on Shawn’s face, it was clear that Richard was cutting off his air supply.

  Frank had to act, and he had to do it fast. He called out to Richard and pleaded for him to release his grip on Shawn. “Take me instead. I’m the one you want, anyway. You contacted me for a reason.”