Yn's POV
Going to fundraisers and mayoral debates and dinner parties was not my thing. I wasn't really interested in politics, and what made it even worse was that we had to dress up in our fancy police outfits. Tonight's event was in support of Brian Kelton, one of the candidates for mayor, and also former police and current Superintendent of the CPD.
"I hate these outfits. They always feel so stuffy" I say.
"Well, how about when this is all over, we go back to the apartment and take them off" Jay suggested and winked at me.
"You are literally the best boyfriend ever. I don't know how you do it, but you always seem to be reading my mind" I say.
"What can I say. It's a trait I've picked up over the years" Jay said.
"So, onto other things. I'm assuming you know about Hailey and Adam now" I say.
"Yeah. Hailey told me during our last case. How long have you known" Jay asked me.
"Oh. I've known since they first slept together" I say.
"What? How" he asked me.
"What can I say. It's a trait I've picked up over the years" I say, mimicking his line from earlier.
Jay smiled and wrapped his arm around me. "I love you" he said and pecked my cheek.
"I love you too. Can I also just say that you look very attractive in your blues" I say.
"Me looking attractive in this? You've got to be joking" Jay said.
"What was that thing I said awhile back? Something about being attracted to first responders" I bring up.
"Right. I do remember that. Have you ever dated anyone outside of the police force" Jay asked.
"Yeah. Back in my patrol days, I dated a firefighter. We only lasted for about 2 months though" I say.
Just then, Kim and Kevin walked over to us. "We've got a new case. Adam, Hailey, and Voight are already at the scene" Kevin said.
"What? But they just left like 2 minutes ago. How can they be there already" I ask.
"The victim is defense attorney Bernie Hoffman. He left from here about 10 minutes ago. His house is right around the corner. Lets go" Kim said.
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"What do you got" Voight asked Adam.
"Well, the wife's jewelry box was rifled through and a few drawers were tossed, but there's no sign of Hoffman's cell phone. I looked high and low" Adam responded.
"And the techs swabbed Mrs. Hoffman for GSR. She's clean. They also did a quick test on the thirty-aught-six. It has not been fired" Jay added.
"And the shell casings are from a 9-millimeter" I say.
"You know, there's no sign of forced entry, so either the offender pulled off some kind of ruse, or Mr. Hoffman knew the attacker, was having a meeting in here, and things went south" Jay said.
"Well, I'd say real south because his jaw is broken" I inform them.
"How do you know" Jay asked me.
"Now's probably also the time to mention I used to date a paramedic" I explain to Jay.
"Well, we know what kind of people Bernie reps. Start with his clients" Voight said.
Back at the district, the case was already taking off. We had our white board set up with multiple pictures and facts, and all of our desks were littered with file folders containing information. I took a seat on top of my desk in the one spot that wasn't cluttered, and folded my arms across my chest, waiting for the presentation to start.
"So, Bernie Hoffman had multiple cases in pretrial, including seven homicides. All seven of those defendants are in jail" Adam said.
"Yeah, he's also got 23 violent offenders awaiting their day in court, and they're all out on bail" Kevin added.
"All right, did you talk to his firm" Voight asked.
"Yeah, and one client stood out, Andre Griffin. He's a major player in the Southside Hustlers. He calls for half of Englewood. Hoffman repped Griffin on three major drug offenses and two agg assaults. Griffin walked each time" I inform the team.
"Griffin visited Hoffman's work office. Apparently behind closed doors things got pretty hot. Furniture was thrown, it was a big fight. Hoffman told the partners that Griffin was just upset about a bill, and he cooled off" Kevin explained.
"All right, did you talk to Griffin" Voight asked.
"Yeah, he's on his way in right now" Kevin replied.
"So, Englewood makes sense. We haven't gotten into Hoffman's phone, but techs got into the cloud, and he got a text message an hour before he was killed. It says, 'It's a deal. On my way', and the text originated from a burner in Englewood" Jay said.
"Maybe Griffin's was the deal that went south" Hailey suggested.
A bit later, a pawnshop in Englewood called saying that Mrs. Hoffman's jewelry had been dropped off, so Kim and Adam went to take a loot. The shop also had security footage, and using facial recognition, we were able to get an ID. The boy who dropped off the jewelry was just a kid, and his name was DeVante. We brought him to the district, and right now, Voight and Kevin were talking to him.
"So, are we going to talk about your past boyfriends" Jay asked me as he took a seat on top of my desk.
I laughed and set down my cup of coffee. "Why are you so interested in who I've dated" I ask.
Jay shrugged. "Maybe I just want to know."
"Mm-hmm. We can talk about this later over drinks at the apartment" I say.
"All right. I'll be looking forward to it" Jay said.
Not even minutes later, we got video footage from a CTA bus that passed Hoffman's house, and there, standing in front of the house around the time of the murder, was Brian Kelton. He told us that the last time he saw Hoffman was at the fundraiser, meaning he lied straight to our faces.
"How'd it go with Kelton" Hailey asked Voight.
"He admits he was there. Let's see what his gun says" Voight said.
"Sarge, I talked to Cook County jail. I got some potential DeVante leverage. Patrol pinched his aunt last night on some drug charges. She basically violated her parole" Kevin informed us.
"Is DeVante close with her" Voight asked.
"She's been taking care of him since he was a shorty, seen a situation like this before. She'll feel like he owes her one" Kevin responded.
"Work it then" Voight said.
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Kevin had used the leverage to flip DeVante, who told us he was there when Griff stopped by at Hoffman's house. He had nothing to do with whatever happened. He was just in the car. So, we made him set up a meeting with Griffin, but things didn't go as planned. Griffin never showed up, and when Kevin and DeVante were exiting a building, a car drove past and shot both of them. Now, we were at the hospital awaiting news on how Kevin was doing.
"Here" I say and hand Jay a cup of coffee.
"Thanks" he said as I took a seat on his lap, leaning my back against his chest. Jay wrapped his arms around me, one hand holding his coffee, the other resting on my stomach.
"I hope Kevin's going to be okay" I say and take a sip of coffee.
"He'll pull through. He's like, the strongest dude I know. I mean, have you seen how buff the man is" Jay asked me.
I laughed. "You're not wrong. Hey, why can't you be buff like him" I ask. For a moment, Jay went quiet, and I could see his face fall flat. I then smiled and turned to the side, pressing my lips to his cheek. "I'm just teasing you, Jay. I love you just the way you are" I say.
Just then, Voight walked over to us all, meaning he had news. "I've got good news. Kevin is going to be fine. It was a tricky surgery. They took a bullet out of his shoulder, but it wasn't life threatening. The best thing we can do for Kevin is get back out there and drag this prick in. So, I want to know where we're at."
"The PODs are a negative for the blue sedan, but a witness thinks they saw an African American driving" Adam said.
"And the shell casings recovered from the drive-by are a match to the gun that killed Hoffman, a 9-millimeter" Hailey added.
"Well, that's enough to snatch his ass up" Voight said.
"Sarge, we've been looking. Griffin's in the wind" Jay said.
"All right, so let's find him and hunt him down. Squeeze his crew till it hurts. Whatever it takes" Voight said.
We ended up finding a guy who said that Griffin was hiding in 5858 South Racine, but when we got there, he was nowhere to be found. Now, we were back at the district trying to put everything together.
"Hey, guys, techs ran the envelope we found at Griffin's stash house. It had 40 grand cash inside, and there was prints on the outside of the envelope and on the cash. We got a hit. Kelton. I was hoping he was better than this" Jay said.
"Yeah, well, he's not. That son of a bitch been lying to our faces from the second Bernie Hoffman got shot" Voight said.
"So, the 40 G's is a payout from Kelton to Griffin for votes" Antonio asked.
"Yeah, it makes sense. I founf a legal pad at Griffin's place with names and neighborhoods, places to disrupt, pastors to bribe. All in the service of helping Kelton win" Kim explained.
"Chicago politics never disappoints" Jay muttered.
"See, this is why I don't get involved in politics" I say.
"Okay, so what happened that night" Voight asked.
"All right, so, the hotel is about a block away from Hoffman's house. Kelton leaves the hotel around 9:30, gets to Hoffman's at 9:35 and delivers the cash. The sometime after 10:00, Griffin gets there, collects the money. Hoffman records the meeting because he wants to protect himself. He doesn't trust Kelton. Griffin realizes the meeting's being recorded, things go south, goodbye Bernie" Jay shared.
"All right, we know the who and the why. Now we've got to prove it. We follow the evidence wherever it leads. If this turns back on Kelton, he ordered it, even if he just covered it up, so be it. We arrest his ass. Let's get back out there" Voight said.
As we were trying to find more information, Kelton walked upstairs. "Superintendent, how can I help you" Hailey asked.
"I'm just checking in with the Sergeant. Don't let me get in your way" Kelton replied.
"Superintendent" Voight said and exited his office.
"Sergeant, I apologize I didn't make it over to the hospital, but I understand Officer Atwater is feeling better. Any progress on the shooter" Kelton asked.
"We're chasing leads. Can you excuse me a minute" Voight asked.
"Of course" Kelton responded.
As Voight followed Kim towards the locker room, Kelton started looking around. First, he studied our white board. Andre Griffin was still our main person of interest, and I tried to see if Kelton reacted to the picture, but I couldn't pick up any emotion of his face. Right after that, he headed over to my desk.
"Officer Ln, is it" Kelton asked me.
"Uh, it's detective, actually" I say.
"I'm sorry" Kelton questioned.
"My rank. I'm a detective, not an officer" I clarify.
"Huh. I didn't think they promoted females anymore" Kelton said.
"Excuse me" I ask.
"Well, men are way better police officers than women. It's just a fact. Now, if you wouldn't mind, Ms. Ln, please clean off your desk. It's cluttered" Kelton said.
I stood up to give Kelton a piece of my mind just as Voight walked back into the bullpen and led Kelton into his office. I followed after them, but Jay grabbed my arm as I walked past his desk.
"Yn, don't" Jay said.
"Did you not just hear what he said to me? He couldn't even call me Detective Ln because he's a sexist pig. I should be able to call him out for that" I say.
"Look, I hear you, okay? But right now, we're trying to get the guy that shot Kevin. Besides, if you go after Kelton, who knows what will happen. Just take a deep breath and calm down" Jay said.
I sighed and crossed my arms over my chest. "I guess you're right. Lets get back to the case" I say.
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We ended up finding the blue sedan that was seen at both Hoffman's shooting and Kevin's, and we discovered that it belonged to Deisha Wallace. Her and Andre had a 1 year old daughter together. Jay and Hailey went over there, picked her up, and now Jay and Voight were talking to her.
"Sarge, the Glock we recovered at Deisha's, it's a match for all of our vics: Hoffman, DeVante, and Kev" I say.
"I've also got a CI who puts Griffin hiding at a flophouse on Monroe. We've got this prick" Hailey said.
"All right, start typing a warrant. I'll get a judge. We move in hot, fully loaded. I don't care if he comes out in a bag" Voight said.
So we got Andre, but for some reason, Deputy Superintendent Brennan wanted him released because apparently, we didn't have enough evidence to charge him. So, he was let go. Now, Jay and I were sitting on the couch in our apartment drinking beers together.
"I've been waiting for this conversation all day" Jay said and took a swig of his beer.
"All right. What do you want to know" I ask.
"Just tell me anything you think is important" Jay clarified.
"Okay. When I was in college, I dated this paramedic named Nick. He was the first first responder I ever dated. Anyways, things were good for a few months, but it was getting harder to see each other between me going to college and him working, and I could see that he was becoming less and less committed to the relationship every week, so I broke up with him. Then, when I was in my early days of patrol, I met this firefighter named Chase out on a call, and we started going out. But like I said earlier, things only lasted for about 2 moths. Next, of course, is Archie, which you know all about. After him was you, followed by Johnny, and then you again. That's basically it. It's not really that interesting" I say.
"Hmm. Well, I'm glad you told me all of that. Who's been your favorite" Jay asked.
"Is that supposed to be a tough question. It's you, obviously" I say, which earned me a smile from Jay.
"Come here" Jay said and set his beer down on the coffee table.
I clambered out of the dent my butt had made in the couch and moved so that I was laying on top of Jay, my chest pressing right against his. Jay then peppered my face in kisses, causing me to giggle.
"I love you" Jay said and pressed a lingering kiss to my forehead.
"I love you too" I say and press my cheek against his chest.
For a few seconds, we both laid there in silence, but it wasn't long before Jay spoke up. "You ready to head to bed" he asked.
"Not yet. I just want to lay here for a bit with you and not have to worry about Chief taking up all of the bed" I say.
"Okay. But just for a few minutes" Jay said and wrapped his arms around me, securing my body against him. However, little did Jay know that we would both end up falling asleep right there on the couch.