Adam looked up from his desk once he heard Kevin coming up the stairs. "Hey man"
"Hey, Ruz get this; we caught this case right? Voight is being super cagey. Upton even called him out on it and he shut her down in a second."
Kevin missed the look on Adam's face. As he walked past him to the breakroom to get himself a cup of coffee. Adam knew there was no way to hide it from the team. He also knew that the minute his mother saw him she'd put it out there anyway.
"Yea, Voight called me and looped me in"
"That's weird? Right? Why couldn't he just update you when he got here?"
"Kev, that witness, you know the one who pushed a cop and then proceeded to rant about cops being useless? She's my mom."
The pieces slowly connected in an instant for Kevin. "Damn bro. It all makes sense now; she kept yelling: 'Call my son', 'my son's a cop', 'his name is Adam'. But we just searched for Adam Riordan and came up empty."
When all Adam did was nod, Kevin took the opportunity to continue and offer some support. "Hey man, I get it, your dad already pretty much put you up against it. And now it's your mom. It can't be easy but just know if you need an ear to vent to and Kim isn't around you've got mine."
"Thanks man. I know it's not the same as what you went through with your old man but I do appreciate that you get what it's like for the team to find out just how messy your parents can be."
The two ended their conversation with a familiar nod and look of appreciation across their desks.
Not 10 minutes later Voight and Platt escorted Bridget upstairs and guided her around the corners to one of the interview rooms. They left her with a cup of coffee to rest, sober up and unwind before trying to talk to her again but not before she spotted Adam.
"Adam! Adam, tell them you know me so I can get out of here. This is ridiculous. Why won't you say anything?"
"Keep it moving" Platt commanded as she walked alongside her
"That's my son. You need to let me talk to him."
"Ma'am, if he wanted to talk to you he would have responded to you. Go on, get comfy, you're gonna be in here for a while yet."
"I've got nothing to say to any of you. You're all useless!" Bridget started yelling again. Her emotional rollercoaster seemed to continue and everyone else had no option but to hop on and take the ride.
When Trudy returned to the bullpen Voight had already retreated to his office to start digging into the actual case they were working on and Kevin had ran downstairs to check traffic cams for any video of the incident. This left Adam alone and there was no way Platt was going to pass up this opportunity.
"I just wanted to make sure you know…" she started
"Sarg, I appreciate it but this has been my mother for quite some time now. I was just hoping it didn't end up falling into my lap at work"
"What makes you think I was talking about that? I was going to say that I wanted you to know that as comfy or as good as you think you were in your little stint out of the field you can keep your grubby hands off my desk. You know, in case you had any ideas."
"Don't worry Sarg, there's no one who could ever replace you"
"Yea, I know" She ended with a wink and a pat on the back. She was a woman of few words and most of it came out in pure sarcasm but no one doubted her intentions. She cared deeply for everyone in the intelligence unit.
While he waited for his next set of instructions he decided the easiest way to loop Hailey and Dante in was to send a text. At least that way they'd know what they were walking into once they returned to the district. Their responses were exactly what he imagined; supportive but not intrusive.
The next texts he got were from Kim:
"Hey I got a call from Voight. We picked up your mom?"
"Yea, evidently she's a witness but isn't being super cooperative. Pushed a patrolman, said some colorful things, was nearly drunk by noon"
"Damn. Are you ok?
"Yea. How'd court go?"
"Court was fine. I'm gonna head back to the 21st. I'll see you soon. Need anything?"
"No, I'm good, thanks you though. I'll see you when you get here."
"It's going to be ok Adam."
He knew he'd feel better about all of this once she was back. He had already felt a small shift in just the few texts exchanged with her.
As everyone finally made it back to the district and began laying out their information, Adam's mother's involvement as a witness became clear. Kevin found footage of her sitting on a stoop smoking a cigarette when the car jacking occurred. There was no way she didn't see or hear that something had happened. As it was all unfolding she quickly got up and began walking down the street away from the scene. That's when patrol pulled up to try and hold containment of the area: no one in and no one out. Bridget Riordan wasn't a fan of that and things only got worse the longer they made her wait around, culminating with her shoving the patrolman who tried to ask her questions. It was all on video and should help in trying to get her to give up any information she had.
"Good work Kevin, get that on a drive. Hailey and Kim, grab a laptop and head in to see if Bridget feels any more aware of her surroundings compared to earlier. Kevin, I want you back on footage seeing if you can track where the car went after it was jacked, take Torres with you. Adam, read over our victim's statement. See if there's anything that matches up as coincidental with any of the other car jackings." Voight directed to his team. He made it a point to attempt to make eye contact with Adam multiple times. However, Adam kept his gaze at the screen or the floor simply nodding his head that he understood his assignment.
Once the team had dispersed to take on their respective tasks Voight made a loop around the bullpen on the way back to his office: A loop that would ensure he would pass by Adam's desk.
"You know it would be a bad decision to let you in that interview room"
"No worries Boss, I wasn't asking and honestly… I'm not sure I want to."
"Remember what I said a few years ago: Everyone who matters is up here. This is your family too and they all have your back."
Voight was about to walk away assuming Adam was done with the conversation when he heard Adam mutter: "Sorry for having to have you cover for one of my parents again"
"Hey, they're your family so they are our family. I hope she can give us some valuable intel as to what she heard or saw."
"I … just… Thank you for orchestrating a way to bring her in. I don't know what she's up to and I'm not sure I want to know. She's always been capable of spiraling out. The same things she says she hates about my dad are the same things she does herself. It's the hypocrisy that gets to me."
"Adam, I've seen you grow so much. Over the last couple of years it's been exponential. No single person or event can define who you are. It's the whole of a person that does that. Trust in that. Talk to her or don't; that decision is up to you. But when you walk out of here today remember who YOU are and what matters most. If she's part of that then great, if not, well that's ok too."
"Thanks boss, I mean it" Adam was appreciative. He still needed to sort through all of his emotions and figure out where his head was at but at least he felt reassurance that he had the support of his team and that he wouldn't be judged based on the actions of others.