Chapter 7, enjoy! Let me know your thoughts in a review (or pm if you aren't comfortable)
"So, how'd that go?" Jay asked after Hailey had returned to her desk at the bullpen.
"Do we have to talk about it here," She whispered back. Jay took that as a hint that it didn't go well.
"No," He quietly responded.
"Anything new?" Hailey asked. She had only been gone roughly two house, but so much information could be found out in that short of a time.
"Not yet," Kim replied.
"I'm coming through the bar cameras we got with our warrant," Adam announced.
"Ok, I hadn't thought of this until now," Kevin started. "But the roommate said she was going on a date. There are no texts that reflect that, so what if she used a dating app?"
"I think you're onto something Kev," Jay stated before sitting down at his computer and vigorously typing.
"What are you doing?" Hailey asked.
"Running her email and phone number through a data base to see if they are connected to dating site accounts. Several of them have an in app chat feature, she could have used that to set up the date," Jay explained.
"Good thinkin' Halstead," Kevin complemented.
"I got something," Jay announced. "She's got an eHarmony account tied to her email account," He told them as he continued to aggressively type.
"I got something too," Adam stated. "Look at this," He said as everyone gathered around him.
"The bartender is slipping the roufies in her drink," Kim observed.
"And the table they were sitting at was out of the camera's view," Adam added.
"This was a team effort," Hailey concluded. "What if the bartender and whoever she went on a date with were in this together. He could have lured her to the bar by saying it was a date."
"Are there any past cases like this?" Kim asked. "Could this be a serial rapist?"
"I'll do some digging into that," Kevin announced before leaving to dig through boxes of files.
"Does the bartender have any priors, anything we can to scare him into IDing our suspect?" Hank asked.
"He's clean," Hailey told him after running him through their database. "Jay you find out who she matched with on the dating site?"
"She chatted with a Brendon Williams. They talked back and forth then set up a date at the club," Jay reported. "But I ran his name and date of birth through our system and he doesn't exist. He used a fake name. I'm running his profile picture through facial recognition, but he could have easily used another picture."
"And do we have any past cases similar to this one?" Hank asked when Kevin returned to the bullpen.
"Nope," Kevin answered.
"Get anything on facial rec Halstead?" Hank questioned. Before Jay could answer, the phone in Hank's office began to ring. he went to his office to answer the call while everyone else returned to their work. "They found another body in the dumpster behind the club early this morning, the ME says everything about her death is similar to Alana's," Hank reported. "Now this is a serial case."
"Can we run her accounts too?" Hailey asked. "What if she also matched with this guy."
"We don't have a warrant for that yet," Hank replied. "Kim, go work on getting a warrant for that," He instructed.
"I did get a match through facial rec. His name is Andy Porter," Jay announced. "But who knows, that could be a stolen photo."
"Did they find DNA or finger prints on either of the bodies?" Hailey asked. "If the bartender spiked her drink in the line of view of the camera and these guys are dumping the bodies right behind the club, they can't be that smart."
"Kevin, go make a phone call to the ME, see if they found any traces of DNA on the bodies," Hank commanded. Kevin did as he was told and moved to his desk where he made the phone call.
A lightbulb went off in Hailey's head.
"What if we set up an account, put in all the things that Alana did so we can match with this monster and I could go under on a date with him and we could bust this son of a bitch," Hailey suggested.
"Hailey..." Jay started. "Are you sure that's a good idea?" He asked, knowing how close to the vest this case was, and that normally cases this close and uncover operations usually don't go over very well. Hailey just glared at him and waited for an answer from Voight.
"If you think you can handle it, you guys set it up," Hank replied.
"Wait, Hailey. You and Kim questioned the bartender, he'll recognize you," Adam interjected. Damn it! Hailey thought, she didn't even think about that.
"We have wigs and I can put on heavy makeup," Hailey argued.
"Hailey, it's too risky," Jay replied.
"I need to do this," She pleaded. Jay looked around the room to see all eyes on them and their current argument.
"Hailey, Jay is right. It's too risky for you or Kim to go undercover," Hank finally added.
"But Sarge-"
"Hailey, I said no," He replied sternly. "Adam go ask Trudy for a female officer to go undercover," He instructed.
"I should just do it," Hailey muttered, her voice thick with jealous.
"Come on," Jay stated, motioning for her to follow him downstairs to the garage.
"Why can't you let me do this?" Hailey shouted once they were alone in the garage. "It's not my first time undercover."
"Hailey, you are an amazing detective and you have done some great undercover jobs, but this time it is just too risky," Jay tried to explain.
"He killed my niece, I want to arrest the bastard!"
"I know you do Hailey, but just think about it. If he recognizes you, your life could be in danger. Your family already lost one person, they don't need to grieve over another. Do you remember when my dad died and I wanted to help out so bad I disobeyed orders and got myself shot?" Hailey nodded as she remembered the day she found her partner wounded on the sidewalk thinking he was dead. The image from that night flashed before her eyes, and she remembered the shaky, scared feeling she had as she approached her wounded partner. "I don't want that to happen to you," He added.
"So what can I do?" Hailey finally asked. Her voice was quiet and timid. She was reluctantly turning over the reins. Ever since they had started on the case, Hailey envisioned herself slapping the cuffs on his wrist and leading him to the cop car, it was almost like her dream, and now she was having to allow someone else to get that satisfaction.
"You can be right there will me, waiting for our cue to enter and arrest the son of a bitch," Jay told her. Sitting in the van wasn't the same as being undercover. Hailey shot Jay a glare and stormed back upstairs. He had a point, but Hailey didn't want to admit that - she still wanted to do this her way.
"Sarge, please let me go undercover," Hailey begged once she had returned to the bullpen.
"Hailey, I said no," He firmly responded.
"But-" Hailey tried to argue.
"Do I need to kick you off the case?" He interrupted.
"Please, just let me go under."
"No means no Hailey," He replied. "If you can't accept that then you need to leave." Hailey, completely pissed off at this point, stormed down the stairs, steaming with anger. Her combat boots thudded against the wooden floor as Jay watched her fade down the stairs.