Chapter 5 guilty shoplifting
JJ walked into Emily and Tracey's kitchen Monday morning to grab a coffee before she and Emily returned to work.
"God, you both look like death warmed up; where you both a little frisky last night, Ehh?" JJ smirked whilst pouring her coffee
"No, unfortunately, both girls had terrible nightmares all night. We brought them into our bed, and they told us what they had to endure with those pair of bastards. I'm just sorry they died so quickly. They finally fell asleep about an hour ago." Emily told her partner in an unusually emotional voice
JJ pulls Emily and Tracey into a big hug. "You've had the girls four day's and your both big bad momma bears already." Smirked JJ, "you're both doing a good thing. I'm so proud of you both. How about the 6 of us go to the zoo at the weekend?"
"Yeah, those two eight-year-olds have experienced so much neglect and sheer evil in their lives so far, all Emily and I want to do is show them what unconditional love is like and what life should be like for young girls," Tracey tells them
"And let their two aunts spoil them rotten." Added Elizabeth, walking into the kitchen. "The zoo sounds like a great idea."
"THE ZOO! I've never been to a zoo," Elle yells as she runs into the kitchen
Elizabeth catches the highly excited eight-year-old girl. "We will have SO much fun, and you'll love it." Kissing her on her cheek, she snuggled into Elizabeth's arms, giggling as only excited children can
EJ
Walking into Capt Rossi's office, Emily and JJ sat down, "good morning, Sir?". He smiled at his favourite two officers at the 35 precinct even though he was supposed to be unbiased. They had the highest arrest rate in the borough, where the joint best shots in the whole NYPD. But what made them so good at their jobs was their empathy towards everyone. They treated everyone equally. It also got them into trouble regularly, and they also held an unwanted record for the highest number of suspensions. David Rossi had always fought for his officers, but the pair sitting in front of him was unique. They brought more to the table than the average patrol officer. That's why for some unfathomable reason, Lt Strauss hated them both. She always held them to the letter of the patrol guide.
"I need you both to go to a store, and the owner wants a shoplifter arrested. Look at the CCTV and arrest her at home. The owner knows who she is. He is a good friend of mine hence the personal service. Here are your shields and weapons back. Remember, leave Lt Strauss alone." Rossi points at Emily and JJ to emphasise his last comment
"Yes, Sir, is she in yet? I didn't see her broomstick parked outside." Emily smirked
"PRENTISS! What did I just say?" Snapped Rossi
"Sorry, Sir." A contrite Emily replied.
The pair walk out of Rossi's office, reattaching their shields, smiling, pleased to be back at work even if it is modified.
"Morning Ma'am, hope you had a nice weekend?" JJ asked Strauss sweetly on the way past, not bothering to wait for a reply.
"Kiss ass." Emily smiles
JJ just turns and gives Emily her sweetest smile and flutters her eyelashes at her
Emily just burst out laughing
EJ
Stood in the manager's office of the store, Emily and JJ watched the footage of Miss Andrea Wills stealing pasta, meat and sauce. She didn't even try hard to hide the goods. She just put them in a shopping bag and rushed out the door
"What's the total of the items she has taken?" JJ asked the manager
"$14.75 is not the amount officer; it's the principal." The manager replied, slightly annoyed
"How do you know Miss Wills, sir?" JJ asked
He looked at JJ for a second "she used to work for me. I had to let her go last week for her tardiness." He replied, "I want to press charges for her theft." Both Emily and JJ look at each other with raised eyebrows
They took a list and batch numbers on the items she had stolen from the store.
EJ
Emily and JJ stood outside Andrea Wills apartment door after knocking
'Who is it?'
"NYPD Ma'am, can we come in, please? We need to talk to you." Emily answered
'It's open; come on in.'
Entering the apartment, the smell of Pasta sauce filled the nostrils of the two officers. They follow the Devine smell to the kitchen seeing the lovely sight of a mother sitting down with her two daughters eating a meal. Andrea starts to get up from the table.
"No, Ma'am, please finish your meal with your kids," JJ told her; we will wait over here, no need to rush.
Andrea smiled her thanks and sat down to finish her meal.
"Everything she stole is sat cooked on their three plates," Emily mentioned to JJ
"Yeah, I had just noticed." She replied thoughtfully, "Ma'am could we have a look around, please?" JJ asked
"Please do. I have nothing to hide."
Emily looked around the small apartment. Everything was spotless and tidy. The girl's room was full of toys and clean; it is evident to Emily and JJ she adored her children. She was looking around the kitchen—all the cupboards were almost empty.
"Why did Mr Tennant let you go from the store?" Emily asked
"Girls, take your plates into your room and finish your meals." Andrea asked her two daughters, " I refused to let him grope me at work when I bent down stacking the shelves. He suggested I sleep with him, I slapped him on the face, and he told me I had just lost my job. It's my word against his because he deleted the camera footage in front of me. I stole the food because I needed to feed the girls. I only stole enough for that, nothing else." A distraught Andrea told them
JJ excuses herself to make a phone call "we noticed, Ma'am." Emily told her
JJ returned, just shaking her head.
"Andrea Hill, stand up place your hand behind your back. You under arrest for theft of goods from Rossini's store." JJ cuffed Andrea reading her rights. "CPS will be here to collect your children and take them."
Andrea burst into tears screaming at JJ, and she has to be held back even whilst cuffed when the social workers arrive to remove the two girls. Emily handed over a bag of clothes she had packed for them, ensuring they took their favourite teddy bear. The social worker takes the two girls Andrea is like a possessed woman kicking, screaming and biting Emily, and JJ is the target.
She is finally secured in the RMP, and Emily drives them off to central booking
EJ
Emily and JJ sit in their RMP parked outside central booking very quiet, both women deep in thought.
"Why do I feel like the wicked witch of the east? The look on Andrea's face when her kids were taken, it's all I can see. I feel awful." Emily turned to JJ
"I keep telling myself we can't pick and choose who we arrest; it's not working. I feel terrible. She took just what she needed; it was wrong, but she needed to feed her lovely children. I hate my job some days, and today is one I'd like to start again." JJ replied
The two sat quietly for a while, thinking. "What can we do to help her get those girls back?" Emily asked, deep in thought.
"She needs food and a job as a minimum before they will return her girls. We can stock her cupboards for two weeks for her. But the job and the steady income I've got no idea about. JJ replied
Emily picked her phone up and called a friend who ran a private ambulance company. After asking him for help with her problem after explaining the circumstances. She passed on her and JJ's first impressions of Andrea. He had no problem offering her an assistant storekeepers position. He told them to stop by and collect his business cards from the social worker.
"Strauss is going to love this, getting suspended the same day you return. A new record at least we won't feel as bad." Smiles JJ, "let's go pick her up and take her home, and tell her the good news."
EJ
Andrea Wills stood outside of central booking after being in front of the judge, and she had a court date set for three months.
"Over here, Andrea!" Shouted JJ leaning against the RMP
She walked across to the two officers looking like she was ready to rip them into pieces.
"WHAT DO YOU TWO WANT? I have nothing left for you to take; you took my little princesses." Andrea yelled, getting into the back of their RMP
Andrea's last comment ripped the two seasoned officers hearts to pieces. Nothing further was said during the ride back to her apartment. Emily was blinking hard to stop tears from falling on her face. JJ tried to do the same but had to wipe a stray tear away. JJ received a text message on her phone just as they pulled up outside her apartment building. JJ showed Emily the Message on her phone.
"Come with us." JJ tells Andrea, "we need to do some food shopping; family services are coming to inspect your apartment in three hours."
Andrea starts crying, "I don't have any money. They're never going to let me have my girls back. It's YOUR FAULT!" She screams at the two officers.
The two seasoned officers are both unusually emotional for the pair of them.
"Look, we can't pick and choose which laws we enforce. You stole the food, even though it was for a good reason. We want to help you get your girls back. Come food shopping with us to make sure they see you're ready for your girls to come home." Emily told her "my name is Emily, and this is Jennifer." Emily tells her
EJ
Emily, JJ and Andrea pushed three carts around the local market, almost full of groceries.
"Oh, Em, look at these, got to get four, one each for the girls they are cute." JJ gushed like a little girl over the stuffed dinosaur
"Get four different colours, Andrea. What are your girl's favourite colours? Jen purple and green for Vanessa and Ellie, please." Emily smiles "they will love them."
"Blue and yellow, please." Andrea smiled," I'm sorry for the kicking earlier. I do appreciate what you are both doing for me." She smiled
"That's 290.00 dollars, please, officers." Smiled the young teller
The two girls paid the teller and packed the bags into the cart for the short journey to the apartment. Andrea looked a little sad on the way out of the store.
"What's the matter?" JJ asked the now crying Andrea
"Thank you for this magnificent gift, but how do I feed them in two weeks?. I won't get a job with my arrest for theft."
Emily handed her a card for her friend's private ambulance company, telling her she had a job as an assistant storekeeper starting Monday.
"The paycheck will cover your groceries and bills, leaving you some spare cash for the girls treats." Emily smiled
The three walked back to the apartment in silence.
EJ
Busy stocking the kitchen cupboards Emily and Andrea were busy putting away the groceries while JJ cleaned, making sure everything was just perfect. After 15 minutes, everything was put away, and you could eat your dinner off the bathroom floor if you were that way inclined. They spent the next 40 minutes getting to know Andrea and finding more about her kids.
The social worker arrived and inspected her apartment and was impressed with everything
"Last thing Miss Wills, money, we understand you recently got fired from your job. How do you intend to look after the girls without a job?" The social worker asked
Emily handed the social worker a card for a private ambulance company.
"Ring this number to confirm. Miss wills have a job as an assistant storekeeper. They will email confirmation over including how much she is being paid, which will comfortably enable the three to manage." Emily smiled.
The social worker smiled and confirmed everything over the phone, and she had her colleague bring the two girls back home to their mother. Twenty minutes later, a happy Andrea was reunited with her two daughter's, Emily and JJ left the reunion to return to the precinct.
Sat in their RMP outside the apartment, both Emily and JJ had enormous smiles on their faces, and there was nothing more rewarding than seeing a happy family in their job. Too many times, their visit caused families their most horrific and painful times, ripping them apart.
"Time to go back. Do you think we could return from suspension and get suspended on the same day? That would even be a first for us" smirked Emily
"No point trying to put off the inevitable, 35 here we come." JJ smiles
EJ
Emily and JJ only step through the doors of the precinct when a booming voice bellows, "Officers jareau and Prentiss, my office NOW!" Capt Rossi bellows
"Crap, he sounds pissed." JJ states. Both officers walk towards the captain's office
"Sir."
"Close the door and take a seat." Rossi orders, he watches his officers sit down. "I had reports two of my officers paid for groceries for someone they had recently arrested. Helped clean and stocked her apartment to pass a social workers inspection allowing the children's return and secured employment for her. Do either of you know anything about this?" He asked the pair
"No, Sir. Nothing." Emily replied
"No, Sir. But hypothetically, if two officers on their meal break decided to help a woman who had her children ripped from her by a vindictive boss. For refusing his groping handed advances and then fired her. Having her arrested over $14.75 and the children ripped from her." JJ took a deep breath and continued, "hypothetically, those two officers might have helped out a struggling mother with groceries and employment. If that were the case, it would be their own business hypothetically, Sir" JJ told Rossi
Rossi smiled. "Hypothetically, those two officers wouldn't be stupid enough to get suspended twice in the same week. Glad we're clear on that as your lunch break took four hours, I've left you a little task on your desk. Once you have finished, you can leave." Smirked Rossi
Both leave his office smiling, thinking that went rather well. That is until they see the four horrendous stacks of paperwork piled between their desks.
"It's going to take us all night. We better get started, Jen." Emily groaned
JJ picked the first file up, "Officer Jareau, they just need to be taken to the file room, please." Morgan smirked, "then you can leave, hypothetically."
"So not funny, Sargent!" Emily and JJ reply.
Morgan and Rossi watch the two officers leave for the day.
"They are two special officers Sargent, he might be my friend, but let's investigate him about Miss Wills claims. Put them back on full duty tomorrow; it's a waste having them on modified duty. I hope they keep out of Lt Strauss way. " Rossi told Morgan
"Yes, Sir."
EJ
Two happy ladies walked into Emily's apartment to be ambushed by two very excited young ladies. They flung themselves at Emily and JJ "we missed you both, come on, we're having a film night," Two excited young girls told them, dragging them towards the front room.
"Girls, if you see your aunt JJ she picked you both up a present today." Smiled Emily
JJ got out the purple and green dinosaur's and handed them over to the girls both their faces immediately lit up with utter joy.
"Thank you very much, Aunt JJ." The girls say in unison
JJ and Emily smile and join everyone on the settee to watch the end of Tangled on the TV
Tracey and Elizabeth sit smirking on the settee, trying their hardest not to laugh. "What are you two so happy about," Emily asked
"Hypothetically!" They can't help but burst out laughing
"Not funny," Emily smirked
EJ
Vanessa and Ellie were amazed at the animals at the zoo, and they had never seen so many exotic animals in real life. They ran from exhibit to exhibit, asking the grownups question after question
"Tracey, why is that polar bear green on one side?" A very quizzical young lady asked
Tracey smiled at the curious eight year old "do you see the green around the side of her pool? She has rubbed against it and stained her lovely white fur." She leaned down and kissed her head. Tracey whispered something into her ear, and she giggled look and looked at Emily and ran across to Elle and whispered into her ear.
Ellie and Vanessa grab hold of Emily's hands and pull her towards the reptile house. "Will you come with us to look at the snakes, please, Emily. The two young ladies asked.
Emily suddenly stopped pulling the two excited girls back. "Sorry, I can't. I will wait outside for all of you to finish." Emily told them
"Please EM-IL-Y, Please, Please come in and see the snakes." Tracey taunted her wife
Emily whispered to her wife, "you are going to pay for this, sweetheart." Emily's greatest phobia was snakes, and she was petrified of them. She had two close calls with anacondas during her time in the SAS. Five sets of eyes were all begging her. She couldn't say no to her wife for anything, and she was quickly finding out the same thing about her foster children.
"You're going to have to hold mums hand all the way through." Emily berated herself for saying mum it was out before she could stop it. Emily looked at the two girls for any sign of distress. Surprisingly the two girls stood with smiles on their faces. Vanessa held her hand out to Tracey
"Mamma, you can hold my other hand, and we can both keep mum safe." She smiled. Tracey nodded, unable to speak. Her body was buzzing with joy.
The group entered the reptile house with a petrified Emily. She was trying to keep a stiff upper lip, as her mother used to tell her as a child. She was failing badly. She started hyperventilating and had to be escorted out to fresh air. Emily began to bring her breathing under control slowly.
"We're sorry." The young girls
Emily sat the girls on a knee and pulled them both into a hug "don't cry, I'm fine, why don't you go back in with your aunts, and I'll sit out here with Mamma." Emily smiled
Emily sat with Tracey watching the girls go back into the reptile house.
"You've been a naughty woman. I am so getting my revenge, mamma." Smiled Emily
The girls returned after finishing looking around the reptile house, smiling and joking with Elizabeth and JJ, " come on, mamma, come on, mum, time for the monkey house."
They all spent the next few hours enjoying each other's company around the zoo.