Chapter 10 - When Chicago Turned Against Gideon
By 3:04 a.m., Gideon Crosswell’s face was on every television station in Chicago.
WANTED FOR QUESTIONING.
ARMED AND DANGEROUS.
POSSIBLE CONNECTION TO MULTIPLE ORGANIZED-CRIME HOMICIDES.
The photographs were old but carefully chosen.
Gideon leaving a courthouse.
Gideon entering a nightclub beside men later convicted of extortion.
Gideon standing at the docks with Silas Kane.
One commentator called him “the most feared criminal figure in modern Chicago.”
Another wondered aloud whether Ren’s death had triggered a violent breakdown.
Gideon listened from the passenger seat of Marcus’s SUV.
“Turn it off.”
Marcus did.
Hannah sat behind them.
Sophie remained with Evelyn and Dana.
“No police scanner?” Gideon asked.
Marcus shook his head.
“They moved to encrypted channels.”
“Vane?”
“Most likely.”
Hannah stared through the windshield.
“Ava thinks she’s helping.”
“She is nine.”
“She thinks she’s responsible for Sophie being taken.”
Gideon knew that feeling.
The belief that one decision had caused everything.
“If we find her,” he said, “I’ll explain.”
“When.”
Gideon looked back.
“What?”
“When we find her.”
Hannah held his gaze.
Gideon nodded.
“When.”
They approached St. Anne’s from the rear.
The preschool occupied an old church annex surrounded by a low fence and playground.
Snow covered the swings.
Police vehicles already blocked the main street.
Too many.
Marcus parked three blocks away.
They continued on foot.
“Where is Ren’s box?” Gideon asked.
“Basement archive,” Hannah said.
“How do you know?”
“Evelyn told me.”
“Access?”
“Side stairwell.”
Marcus stopped them.
“Movement.”
A figure crossed the playground.
Small.
“Ava.”
Hannah tried to run.
Gideon caught her arm.
“Wait.”
A second figure appeared.
Adult.
Ava froze.
The man wore a police uniform.
He approached her slowly.
Gideon could not hear the words.
Ava backed away.
The officer reached for her.
Ava ran.
He chased.
Gideon moved.
He crossed the playground before Marcus could stop him.
“Ava!”
She turned.
“Gideon!”
The officer drew a weapon.
“Stop!”
Gideon raised both hands.
The officer aimed directly at him.
“You’re under arrest.”
“Fine.”
Ava ran behind Gideon.
“But the child comes with me.”
“Get on the ground.”
Gideon looked at the officer’s badge.
Sergeant Daniel Pike.
He recognized the name from Peter’s information.
One of Vane’s men.
Gideon smiled faintly.
“You’re early, Sergeant.”
Pike’s expression shifted.
“You know me?”
“Enough.”
Marcus appeared to the side.
Pike turned the weapon.
Hannah emerged behind him.
“My daughter is here!”
Pike became nervous.
That was dangerous.
Gideon lowered his voice.
“Put the gun away.”
“On the ground!”
“You have cameras on three buildings watching this playground.”
Pike glanced around.
Gideon continued.
“If you shoot anyone, you will spend the rest of your life explaining why.”
That hesitation saved them.
Marcus closed the distance and disarmed Pike.
They restrained him with his own handcuffs.
Ava clung to Hannah.
“I’m sorry.”
Hannah hugged her.
“Never do that again.”
“I wanted to help.”
“I know.”
Gideon looked toward the school.
“Did you get inside?”
Ava nodded.
“Did you find the box?”
She pulled a small cardboard container from beneath her coat.
Gideon stared.
REN CROSSWELL was written across the top in purple marker.
“How?”
“The basement window was open.”
Marcus frowned.
“Convenient.”
Too convenient.
Gideon immediately looked at the building.
“It’s a setup.”
The floodlights came on.
Police surrounded the playground.
Dozens.
A voice shouted.
“Hands where we can see them!”
Hannah pulled Ava close.
Marcus swore.
Gideon looked at the box.
“Give it to me.”
Ava did.
“Marcus, get them out.”
“No route.”
“There is always a route.”
He looked toward the church next door.
“Fence.”
Marcus understood.
Gideon stepped away from them holding Ren’s box high.
“Police!”
Every spotlight shifted toward him.
“Gideon!” Hannah whispered.
“Go.”
Marcus led them toward the opposite fence while attention focused on Gideon.
“Put the box down!”
Gideon walked slowly toward the center of the playground.
Television vans had begun arriving.
Good.
Cameras.
Witnesses.
He raised his voice.
“My name is Gideon Crosswell.”
A commander shouted, “Get on your knees!”
Gideon ignored him.
“I have evidence relating to the death of my daughter Ren Crosswell and Daniel Hurst.”
Reporters immediately reacted.
Cameras zoomed.
Police officers exchanged looks.
“Put it down!”
Gideon smiled.
“No.”
The commander approached.
Then a black sedan arrived.
Deputy Mayor Thomas Vane stepped out.
Perfect suit.
Perfect hair.
Concerned expression.
He looked like a man arriving to restore order.
“Mr. Crosswell,” Vane called.
Gideon turned.
“Thomas.”
“This has gone far enough.”
“You came quickly.”
“A child may be in danger.”
Gideon almost laughed.
“Yes. Several have been.”
Vane stepped closer.
“Give me the box.”
Cameras recorded every word.
Gideon held it tighter.
“Why you?”
“So we can preserve evidence.”
“Interesting.”
Vane’s smile strained.
“Gideon.”
“You know what’s inside?”
“No.”
“Then why does your hand shake?”
Vane looked at his hand.
It did not shake.
The reporters noticed.
A trick.
Gideon had forced him to check.
Vane’s expression hardened.
“Enough.”
He nodded subtly.
Sergeant Pike, supposedly restrained behind the playground structure, somehow stood.
He had freed himself.
And his weapon was aimed at Ava.
Hannah screamed.
Gideon’s world narrowed.
Pike shouted, “Box!”
Vane turned theatrically.
“What are you doing?”
But Gideon saw it.
Not surprise.
Calculation.
He dropped Ren’s memory box onto the snow.
Pike moved toward it.
Ava remained frozen.
Then a voice came from behind the police line.
“Don’t touch that box.”
Everyone turned.
Silas Kane stepped into the floodlights.
Reporters erupted.
Gideon stared.
Silas raised both hands.
“I am Silas Kane.”
Vane went pale.
Silas smiled toward the cameras.
“And Deputy Mayor Thomas Vane just ordered a police officer to threaten a nine-year-old child.”
Vane shouted, “Arrest him!”
Nobody moved.
Too many cameras.
Too many witnesses.
Silas looked at Gideon.
“This is the part where you say thank you.”
Gideon did not.
Pike suddenly lunged for the box.
Ava kicked snow into his face.
Marcus tackled him.
The cardboard box burst open.
Children’s drawings scattered across the playground.
Crayons.
Photographs.
A yellow ribbon.
And one small flash drive.
Vane stared at it.
So did Gideon.
Then a boot came down.
Crack.
The drive shattered.
Vane looked relieved.
Evelyn’s voice suddenly came through Gideon’s phone.
He had forgotten she was connected.
“Let him think he destroyed it.”
Gideon slowly smiled.
Vane saw the smile.
And understood too late.
The drive had never been the only copy.
Then every reporter’s phone began chiming simultaneously.
Marcus checked his.
His eyes widened.
“What?”
He showed Gideon.
An anonymous email had just been sent to every major newsroom in Chicago.
Subject:
WHAT REALLY HAPPENED TO REN CROSSWELL.
Attached was Daniel Hurst’s confession.
May you like
And beneath it:
PART ONE OF THREE.
