Jay walked into the 21st precinct, determined strides paving his way. His conversation with Hailey last night had been amazing and incredibly enlightening, he learned so much about her, her kindness, her intelligence and the way her face lit up as she talked about the work she does, she was truly amazing. Jay decided that once this case was over, he was going to ask her out on a real date, where he didn't have to masquerade as a bartender. He only hoped that she would understand his reasoning for lying to her.
He climbed the steps with a sense of purpose, aiming to present his theory about a third party that was housing the drugs until they were brought to the bar and were subsequently sold from it.
He looked around, noticing that everyone was there as he hung his coat on the back of his chair. He knocked on Voight's door, signaling for him to come out into the bull pen.
"Hey guys, I think I have a possible angle for where the bad dope is being stored before it gets sent out from the bar."
"Alright Jay, let's hear it." Voight said.
"Okay, so we've been running at a dead end for a while now and something someone said last night gave me an idea. We've been looking at the owner and the supervisors for the people responsible for getting the dope out on the streets, but they've all turned up clean. We had no reason to suspect them, but we never looked for a third-party participant who wasn't higher up the food chain at the bar."
"I see what you're saying, do you have any leads?" Voight asked, hoping they could finally close the case and get the drugs off the streets.
"I believe I do. I think the reason I never found anyone who could have a connection to the drugs is because I was never there at the time the drugs were allegedly moved out. So, our intel says that the drugs are most likely getting moved early on weekdays. I've only been getting night shifts, and the only person who works mornings, other than the boss, is the janitor. I looked him up and he's been busted once for possession and once for distro." Jay replied, taping a picture of their suspect on the board.
"Hm, Greg Murphy, you think this is our guy Jay?" Said Adam.
"Yeah, I do."
"Well go pick him up, let's see if he has anything to say." Said Voight.
Jay and his partner Nick Bennett made their way to the front door of a small ordinary looking house. Nothing appeared to be amiss, but both detectives knew that looks could be deceiving.
Jay knocked on the door, announcing themselves as the police.
"So, where'd you get the idea that this guy could be the one distributing our dope?" Nick asked, looking to his partner.
"I had dinner with someone last night and she pointed me in the right direction."
"Really, you had dinner with a woman last night? Who?" Nick was curious, Jay hadn't been on a date since his rebound that got messy after Erin left him.
That was right when Nick had transferred into Intelligence from Robbery-Homicide. Nick tried like hell to get Jay to move on and the situation with Camila hadn't helped with climbing the already steep hill.
"Okay, first of all, it's not that surprising and second of all, it was one meal, I don't even know how she feels about it yet." Jay answered, wondering what was taking this guy so long to answer his door.
"Hey anyone in here?" Jay yelled, knocking harshly on the door.
They heard footsteps approaching and then the door swung right open.
"Hi there, I'm Detective Halstead and this is Detective Bennett, we'd like to ask you a couple of questions." Jay stated walking into the house, noting the faint smell of weed.
"So, Mr. Murphy, would you care to explain the scent of weed in the air and the lines of coke on your coffee table? Or can we just skip the act and arrest you for possession?" Jay asked gesturing to the cocaine on the coffee table in front of him.
"Well you see, I –" Murphy bolted out the front door, running as fast as he could.
"I knew he was gonna bolt, we should've just taken him to the district!" Said Bennett.
"Oh, but that wouldn't be any fun, would it?" Jay replied.
Jay and Bennett took off after him. It only took them a few blocks to catch up with him considering he was high and probably very disoriented.
Bennett grabbed his torso and slammed Murphy to the ground. Jay handed him a pair of handcuffs and they took him back to the district to be interrogated.
"Good work today, Jay. That lead helped us finally close this case." Voight said, with a smile, happy to put this behind them and move on to other cases.
"Yeah, Jay that was a great idea, now you don't have to be a part-time bartender anymore." Kevin said jokingly, getting a few laughs from the group.
"Hey anyone want to grab a beer with me?" Kim asked, hearing 'yes' from almost everyone in the group.
"Sorry guys, I have to get home. It's pizza night with Sophie and I can't miss that." Nick replied, looking slightly guilty.
"Man, don't worry about it. Go have fun with your daughter, dude. We'll be fine." Jay said.
"Alright, I'll see you guys later, but text me if there's another shot contest between Kevin and Vanessa, I need to know who wins."
"Will do. Bro. I'm sure Kim will take lots of pictures to share with you later." Said Adam.
The team made their way out of the precinct, each getting into their own cars, before meeting up at Molly's where they had some drinks and ended up discussing their latest case.
"So, Jay I heard you went out with a girl last night." Said Adam, adding a suggestive tone to his voice.
"Yeah, and who told you that?" Jay asked.
"Nick. He said that's where you got your lead. I gotta know though, is she police?" Asked Adam.
"No, and it wasn't really a date, we just ate together. There's also the fact that I met her at the bar while I was undercover."
"Right, because that worked out so well for you last time." Said Kim not trying to sound harsh, but also knowing that Jay was not in a good headspace while he was with Camila.
"Yeah, I know, that definitely wasn't my best moment." Said Jay looking down at his glass of beer.
"Hey, bro, lesson learned, you're better now. I'd say that's pretty good, man!" Said Kevin, lightening the mood of their conversation like it's his superpower.
"You're right, hopefully this turns out differently." Said Jay.
And he really did, because Hailey felt like someone who could really turn his world around if she wanted to.