*District 21: Bullpen*
"Caught a strange one." Hank remarked as he and Ana followed Adam up the stairs.
"The only witness was the guy that called it in." The Officer reported.
"And the victim?" The brunette wondered, lowering her mask.
"Blood tox came back negative for drugs and alcohol." Adam replied. "The guy's still unconscious but Med's gonna contact as soon as we can question him."
"Okay, so what do we think happened?" Hank inquired while following his wife over to her desk.
"Well, right now, we're betting on a failed carjacking." Kevin informed, joining Jay over at the whiteboard. "Been a 40% increase in carjackings in that neighborhood this month alone. Perfect territory. There's a through line from downtown, usually pretty void of pedestrians, meaning there's a Hell of a lot of high-end vehicles on a quiet street." He explained.
"The victim was driving a $90,000 BMW, and there was evidence of a beating inside and outside the car, so they pulled him out." The male Detective added, quietly.
"So a new, young crew tries to jack Jeff's car, things go wrong, maybe Jeff fights back or the kids get spooked. Crew takes off, hop in their buddy's car and Jeff tries to drive away." Hailey speculated from her desk.
"We got a hit on the offender's car." Kim spoke up, walking in from the Interrogation Area and handing Kevin a picture which he then taped to the board. "Gray SUV was clocked on PODs two blocks away."
"Nice. You get an angle on the windows?" Adam wondered.
"Can't see inside or see plates, but I ran the car through our HOT file. Gray SUV was reported stolen two months ago by a Jessica Ramirez." The female Officer revealed. "Now, the kicker? Jessica works at a DCFS center with kids aging out of the system. Teenagers."
"Okay, that's good." Ana nodded with a smile.
"Why don't you guys check it out?" Hank suggested/ordered before turning and heading into his Office.
*Crime Scene: Nighttime*
While out investigating, the Team was called into what seemed to be another carjacking. So, of course, the two Sergeants were brought into the loop as well.
"Medics took the victim to Chicago Med. Had signs of a massive heart attack. His name's Troy Wrightman, 62 years old. This is his car. Married, no children, no priors." Hailey listed. "Um, the kids that we saw fleeing, looks like they were three males and a female."
"Ruzek's talking to a witness. Says he saw two kids rush the car." Jay spoke up, appearing beside his partner.
"Two? What happened to the third?" Kevin inquired from Ana's right.
"Don't know. Says he saw two." The male Detective shrugged, furrowing his brows. "Here's what's weird. The kids ran off, they opened the doors, they ripped the victim out, they beat him, and then they took off running."
"So, what, you guys got here and scared 'em before they can actually take the car?" The Officer wondered.
"I don't think so." Jay shook his head. "We got here right as the SUV was about to hit the alley. Seemed like a getaway car."
"You don't need a getaway car for a carjacking." Hank pointed out.
"No." The male Detective agreed.
"Guy's pockets were rabbited. No wallet. Maybe we're looking at a robbery crew." Hailey speculated.
"Hell of a lot of trouble for a wallet." Kevin retorted, gently.
"Yeah. I don't know." The blonde sighed.
"All right, well, keep working the scene." Ana ordered with a small shrug. "We have one witness already, maybe there's more."
"Dig into this Troy. Search that SUV top to bottom." Hank added. "Whole thing's evidence."
"Yeah." Jay nodded, heading off with his partner in tow.
*Bullpen: The Next Morning*
"Okay, where we at?" Hank demanded, coming out of his Office and stopping next to Ana's desk.
"I connected with Med. Our two victim, Jeff and Troy, are conscious, but they're refusing police help. They don't wanna talk." Adam replied and the older man grunted in response.
"Uh, we searched the SUV top to bottom. We found 2 grand in cash and six wallets with the IDs in 'em. Upton and Atwater are chasing that right now. Car's loaded with stuff. It's like these are street kids. They're living in there. Maybe they use the car when it gets cold out." Jay explained while gesturing at the whiteboard.
He then moved away from it as Hailey and Kevin walked over.
"Right. So we ran those profiles of those other robbery victim from the six wallets. Definitely a pattern." The dark skinned Officer revealed.
"They're all men." Ana guessed.
"Yeah. Three of the IDs have prior pops for solicitation, so we ran the crime scenes with that information in mind." The blonde nodded. "First one is five blocks from a male stroll, second one is two blocks from a corner Vice recently ID'd."
"The kids are prostitutes robbing their johns." Hank realized.
"Yeah. Which makes sense why our witness only saw two kids rush the car. The third one was already inside. They take the job, get into a car, go into a quiet place, the other kids are there waiting to rush the car." Hailey speculated.
"Explains our 2 grand in cash." Jay pointed out with crossed arms.
"So the kids get tired of touching their johns, find a new way to make money." Kim muttered. "I mean, they're doing this to survive, right?"
The two Sergeants glanced at each other and turned back to their team.
"Well, let's run that DCFS list again with this in mind and loop in Vice as well." Ana ordered.
"Hit every stroll and corner young prostitutes frequent, any place street kids crash." Hank added. "We just took their car and all their cash, so they gotta know the heat's on 'em."
"Let's find these kids before they get more desperate." The brunette finished for her husband.
*Later That Night*
The Team managed to find one of the kids, Miguel, and they used him to find the rest. However, they were forced to let them go after seeing that one of them, a girl named Lily, was seriously injured. Miguel was taken back into custody where Kim and Hank were currently interviewing him.
Ana looked up from her desk to see her husband walking in her direction with Kim following close behind and she held his gun up for him to take. He returned the weapon to it's rightful place before moving to address the rest of the Team.
"All right, Miguel is not gonna roll on his friends." The older man sighed. "So what do we have?"
"Ballistics did come back on the 9 millimeter from the shooing at the house, and it's match for the killing." Jay reported from his desk.
"Forensics also came back as a match for the SUV. We got three separate prints on the crowbar. One of 'em is Miguel's." Kevin added.
"All right, what do we have on Michael and Sammie?" Ana inquired, referring to the other two kids who's names they figured out after finding their IDs.
"Nothing yet." Hailey shook her head. "We're up on buses and train stations. We've got investigative reports out."
"Yeah, I mean, we've been digging, but they were in foster care for over a decade. They got no family, no connections to anybody other than each other." Adam explained. "I mean, it's gonna be tough to pinpoint where they're gonna run to."
"We have enough evidence to charge Miguel on all counts." The blonde finished.
The two Sergeants shared a look and Ana nodded with a small sigh.
"Okay, so we start processing charges on Miguel." Hank shrugged. "Maybe once they feel real, it'll scare him into talking."
The older man moved to head into his Office but was stopped by Kim.
"So that's it?" She asked in disbelief. "They're kids. They were doing this to put a roof over their heads. They've got these dream houses scribbled in their notebooks. They're kids with no place to go, a system that failed them. Hell, they're robbing their johns, and the answer is, they can go to jail?" The female Officer scoffed. "That's the best we can do for them?!"
"Kim, I don't like it any more than you do but they did rob those men and one of them is dead." Ana pointed out, gently.
"Miguel's not talking, so. . . unless you got a better play we're not thinking of. . ." Hank trailed off.
"I don't have another play." Kim muttered, glaring up at the ceiling.
"Okay, so keep searching." Ana instructed, quietly, and looked back down at the file in front of her.
"Miguel's only chance is we find his friends so they can corroborate his self-defense story. Let's go." Hank commanded, finally heading inside his Office.
*The Next Day*
A few members of the Team were currently looking through any video they could find after stumbling across evidence suggesting that Michael and Sammie were hitching rides on Trucks in order to get out of the state.
"Nothing on any PODs." Kim reported from her desk.
"Yeah, nothing on traffic cams, no security footage." Jay shook his head head.
"There's just every reason to believe they already crossed state lines." Adam muttered.
Hank bit his lip and glanced at Ana.
"Process Miguel and get out leads and messages on Michael and Sammie." She instructed with a sigh.
"Look, chances are some state policeman will pick 'em up soon." The older man pointed out, heading inside his Office.
*Interrogation Area: Observation Room: A Little While Later*
Kim came up with a new way to try and get Miguel so the two Sergeants decided to watch and see for themselves.
"Okay, Miguel. Patrol will be here in a few, transport you to County." The Officer informed, gently.
"What about Lily?" The boy wondered.
"She's still unconscious. It's too early to know the damage, but they think there will be some. I can let you know." Kim offered.
"Okay." He nodded, quietly.
"Miguel, when we were in that abandoned house, when you told Michael and Sammie to run, you said, 'I'll meet you there.' Is 'there' where you were gonna build a home together?" The Officer prodded, placing a small book on the table and opening it. "Where is there?" She demanded, slamming it shut after not receiving an answer. "Your friends ran. They crossed state lines. I told you before what that would mean, what their chances would be. They will be picked up by state police who are looking for them. I know you wanna protect them. That's why you're doing all this. I do, too." Kim assured. "So tell me, Miguel, where is there?"
"They're in Iowa." He choked out, eyes watering a bit.
Behind the glass, Hank and Ana looked at each other and cracked a pair of small smiles.
A/N I know this is definitely not one of my best chapters and I apologize for that. I had a bit of writer's block for this one and part of that is due to the actual episode focusing on Kim, Adam, and Makayla more than anything else.
But, depsite all of that, I hope you enjoyed it! Till Thursday!
~Princess <3