Chapter 1: A New Case
Jay sat in his usual spot on the edge of Hailey's desk, and she lounged in her chair behind him as Voight walked out of his office and handed Vanessa a file. She opened it and began sticking photos onto the whiteboard. Kevin helped her by writing the corresponding information underneath.
"Alright, listen up," Voight called out to his unit. "We've just been assigned a new case which we're taking over from Robbery-Homicide. They've been drowning in cases recently, and the Superintendent wants this case closed as quickly as possible. I'm sure you've all heard about the robberies happening in rich neighbourhoods, mostly Lincoln Park, North Center, and the Gold Coast over the past few months."
The members of the unit all nodded and mumbled out confirmations.
"During the first five robberies," Voight continued, "the crew was in and out within minutes and gone long before the police could respond to the alarms or before the owners returned home. But then, three nights ago, a couple came home early and surprised the bad guys. The husband was shot and killed on the spot, the wife died the next morning at the hospital."
Jay's eyes fell on the photos of the couple in the top corner of the whiteboard. They'd been young, in their mid-thirties, and were smiling brightly at the camera, unaware of the tragedy that lay ahead for them.
"Are there any suspects, Sarge?" he spoke up and shifted his body in Hailey's field of vision.
Attracted by the movement, she took her eyes off the whiteboard and glanced over at her partner. Her gaze travelled from the back of his head to his broad shoulders and down his back. She observed the strong, upright posture he sat in as he concentrated on their briefing. His arms were folded across his chest which pulled the fabric of his shirt taught over the muscles of his back and shoulders. When Voight smacked his hand onto a photo on the whiteboard, Hailey's attention snapped back to her Sergeant.
"According to the file, forensics was never able to recover any DNA or fingerprints from the scenes, and the surveillance videos only show four offenders in blackout gear and ski masks." Voight removed his hand from the photo which was taken by a surveillance camera and showed four masked figures entering a house. "So Robbery-Homicide had nothing to go on. All they had was one vague indication from a CI that a certain Drake Hansen might be involved," Voight pointed at a mugshot of a young man, "but there is no evidence corroborating that yet. As of this morning, we do, however, have a lead. Tech found some of the stolen items listed on a site on the dark web."
"Why the dark web?" Vanessa wondered.
"The items they put up online are rare or one of a kind. They would raise red flags if the crew tried to sell them legally," Adam explained and pointed at his computer screen where he had pulled up the site. "There's a first edition copy of 'Lord of the Flies', a record signed by Elvis Presley, an antique brooch from the 18th century," he read out loud as he scrolled down the list.
The unit gathered around him, eager to see. Hailey rolled her chair next to Adam's, and Jay stood behind her, resting his hands on the backrest as he leaned down to have a better look.
"What was stolen at the last robbery?" Jay asked, and his breath stirred up some baby hairs on the nape of Hailey's neck, sending a shiver down her spine.
Vanessa flipped through the papers in the file. "Five thousand dollars in cash, jewellery worth fifty thousand dollars, and a..." she trailed off, rereading the word before attempting to pronounce it. "A Hermees Birkin bag?"
"Do you mean Hermès Birkin bag?" Kim corrected, looking up at her.
"Yeah, I guess," Vanessa shrugged.
"Adam, scroll up again. I think I saw the bag earlier," Kim instructed Adam, and he complied. "There, stop!"
"Twenty-five thousand dollars?" Kevin exclaimed and puffed out his cheeks when he saw the price written underneath the picture. "For a bag?"
"You could consider that a steal for a Birkin. I think the record price paid for one of them was close to four hundred thousand dollars a few years ago," Kim answered casually.
Her colleagues all took their attention off the screen and stared at her with a wide variety of bewildered looks on their faces.
Adam spun his chair around to face her. "How do you know that?"
"I read it somewhere," she said defensively as her eyes jumped back and forth between the people around her and was very relieved when Hailey spoke up and drew everyone's attention onto her.
"We should make an offer on the bag. If we bust the guys selling it, we can nail them on the murders too," she suggested.
Voight seemed to agree. "Good idea. Contact the sellers to show interest in the bag and one other item, and do some research on this Drake Hansen," he concluded and spun on his heel to return to his office.
His team nodded and everyone returned to their desks to get to work. Jay, who was still holding on to Hailey's chair, pulled it back, spun it around, and wheeled her back to her desk. Her little, surprised chuckle was just the reaction he'd hoped for. She shot a quick smile his way which he returned with a smile of his own as he headed to his desk before he sat down and both of them focused their attention on their computers.
"I just got a reply," Adam called out just a few minutes later and waited for Voight to appear in the door to his office before he continued. "They want to meet up tonight at 9 pm in the Dragon's Den for introductions."
Hailey's fingers flew across her keyboard. "The Dragon's Den is a nightclub owned by none other than Drake Hansen," she said, pointing at her screen.
"Okay, I'd say that confirms his involvement. What do we know about him?" Voight asked.
"He's been in and out of prison for the past fifteen years, mostly for battery and breaking and entering. There's no job listed, neither current nor former, but he bought the club just a little over a month ago. I think we can all guess where that money came from," Kevin rattled off the information he'd gathered.
"His main associates seem to be his brother and a cousin. Their rap sheets look similar to his," Kim added, leaning back in her chair.
Voight nodded along as he took in the provided information. "They could be three of the four members of the crew."
"Their height and build are a match," Kim confirmed.
"Adam, send out a reply confirming the meet, you and Vanessa will be going under as a couple looking to buy the items," Voight instructed.
"Actually, Sarge," Kim objected and straightened up in her seat, "I've been going through Hansen's social media, and these seem to be his last few girlfriends or female acquaintances." She turned her computer screen around so everyone could see, then added, "We should probably play every angle and advantage we can."
Kim had pulled up three images of Hansen with three different women, all of which looked relatively similar to each other due to their blonde hair, blue eyes, and light skin tones.
"It's like looking into a mirror!" Hailey joked, understanding what Kim was indicating.
"It's worth a try," Voight shrugged. "Hailey and Jay are going in instead," he decided.
Kim shot an apologetic look towards Vanessa and Adam for taking the undercover job away from them, but both of them shrugged it off casually.
"Also as a couple, Sarge?" Hailey called after Voight as he headed back into his office.
The thought of going undercover as Jay's girlfriend made her heartbeat pick up slightly.
"Oh, definitely!" Jay replied quickly before Voight could answer, surprising Hailey. "It may help if you bat your eyelashes at Hansen, but we also need clear boundaries," he clarified.
Jay had witnessed men hit on Hailey and get inappropriately close to her in undercover situations before, and even though she'd always handled them expertly, it had been difficult for him to stand by idly and let things play out. If possible, he'd prefer to spare her from having to deal with such encounters.
The look and soft nod she gave him in acknowledgement let him know that she understood his reasoning and appreciated it.
Jay always had her back, and she knew that they would be able to fully and blindly count on each other later that night just as they had every day for the past few years.
Although one thing would be different this time around. Playing a couple would bring a new dynamic to their partnership that they hadn't experienced before. Hailey was simultaneously nervous and excitedly intrigued as she thought about what was to come.
Some time ago, she'd had to admit to herself that the affection she felt towards Jay wasn't just of a platonic and amicable nature based on their tight partnership and friendship. There was more to it. But since she didn't want to risk damaging or losing what they had, she'd sworn to keep those feelings to herself and had accepted that the occasional pat on the shoulder or arm was and would remain the full extent of their physical relationship.
Impersonating a couple would change that and bring them as close to being in a relationship as they would ever get. Hailey was torn about how she should feel about it. She hoped that she and Jay could simply enjoy the mission, maybe even have fun playing their characters, but she feared that playing pretend might leave her emotionally confused and disappointed in the end because none of it would be real.
A phone rang behind her, and the noise pulled her out of her thoughts. She realised that she'd been absentmindedly staring at her desk and chewing on her bottom lip for some time.
Her eyes snapped up to find Jay watching her over the top of his screen.
"You good?" she asked, feeling self-conscious.
"Yeah," he replied quietly. "You?"
She nodded, and he kept his eyes on her for a moment longer before lowering them back to his screen.
If only she knew, how similar his thoughts had been to hers over the past few minutes.