Chapter 60

"You're here fast. Did you hear it over the citywide?" Kim asks Emma as they meet outside the store where the robbery took place. 

"No, the Superintendent. Third one like this in a week. Crawford wants a unit working on it" she answers. 

"All right, what do we got?" Voight asks as soon as everyone gathers inside the store. 

"One injured, lots of property damage. Definitely more smash, than grab. Owner said nothing was stolen. SUV drove into the building, offenders jumped out, yelling racial slurs, shot up the place," Adam informs them, pointing to the broken window. 

"Hate crime?" Vanessa assumes. 

"We gotta loop in the Civil Rights Unit if it's a hate crime, right?" Kevin asks. 

"It's nothing till we can prove it. Lick the scene clean. Shells, forensics, anything these guys could have touched. Let's see if we can lift any paint from where this SUV crashed. Messy means loud, so hopefully the neighborhood was watching. Knock and talk the whole block," Voight orders them, and they get to work quickly.

Emma is the first to return to the station after Voight's instructions to make the board of with the details of the case and tries not to laugh as soon as she sees Jay staring frowning at his phone. 

"Do I want to know what you're watching or not?" she asks him as she takes off her jacket and Jay smiles as soon as he hears her voice. 

He sighs and turns his phone so Emma can see the screen. The girl bends over to get a better look and then turns to Jay confused about the tuxedos she just saw. 

"Will found out I'm taking this thing off in two days," he begins to tell her by pointing to his sling. 

"And he's sending me tuxedos that we can go see as soon as I have my hand free and I can try them," Jay continues, and Emma giggles at how excited Will is. 

"How did he find so many shops or photos in general?" she asks him as she begins to write a few things on the board. 

"Oh, that's the funny part. He didn't find them himself, Kelly helped him," he announces, and Emma turns to look at him with one eyebrow raised. 

"Yeah, I don't know, it seemed strange to me that they were talking about it. Anyway, it turns out that since Kelly is Cruz's best man, and they're planning the wedding that's going to be later this year, he already knows some stores..." he explains. 

"Oh my poor baby, they're going to drive you crazy," she teases him, and Jay rolls his eyes, making her laugh more.

A few hours later, after everyone finishes their work in the neighborhood, where the robbery took place, they return to the district, smiling broadly as soon as they see Jay standing over the printer. 

"Well, look who's here. Welcome back brother," Adam says cheerfully and touches Jay's good shoulder. 

"Yeah, I'm not allowed to be full duty for another week," Jay complains. 

"You might as well live vicariously through us. We can make a journal for you," Kevin teases him, and everyone laughs. 

"Glad you're back, Jay," Kim tells him. 

"Thanks, guys," Jay says smiling brightly. 

"Go ahead, Emma," Voight tells her when he comes out of his office and they focus again on their work. 

"Okay, three robberies in seven days in Canaryville. But Robbery is playing pretty fast and loose with the word since nothing of large value was actually stolen. The first two places hit were still under construction, the third one wasn't opened for business yet, so there's no cash in hand to steal" 

"All right so it's about damage, not profit" Voight observes. 

"Guys, we got nothing on forensics. Offenders kept their masks on, hands to themselves," Vanessa informs them as soon as she hangs up. 

"That fits with the witness statements I got. Two masked, gloved males. They also said they saw shotguns and a black SUV with the plates torn off," Kim adds. 

"All that is an exact match with the other two, but this is the first time that they're ramming windows, first time they used hate speech," 

"It's about anger, not much planning" 

"All three were brand-new establishments in the area," Emma says again, and gives a file to their Sergeant. 

"I mean, it is Canaryville. They're notorious for hating outsiders," Jay says, and for a moment all his colleagues think the same thing. How nice it is to have him back in the bullpen with them. 

"One might call it a tight-knit community," Adam comments. 

"Yeah, if some still live in the neighborhood," Jay says and without being able to contain himself looks at Emma, making her smile as she remembers very well the conversation they had while they were looking for their house. 

"I ain't you. Grow old where you grew up, baby" Adam teases him. 

"Hey, you know I'm not going to do it anymore," Jay replies looking at Emma, and they all laugh. Voight's voice brings them back to reality as soon as he reads the file he's holding. 

"All right, let's start back from scratch. Work all three scenes again. Reopen cases files, re-interview the owners. Let's start finding patterns here," the Sergeant tells them, and they start to work.

"Okay, next place we're going to is 4210 Lowe. Was hit three days ago. Supposed to sell artisan wine and cheese," Emma says while reading the file in her hands as she walks next to Adam. 

"This used to be a family-owned Italian joint. They had the worst chicken you ever had, but old Jackie pretended he didn't see us stealing beers from the bar, so..." Adam tells her, smiling at the memory, but Emma can easily understand that something is bothering him. After all, living with Jay made you an expert at reading people.

"Hey, Adam?" she asks him as soon as she stops walking and he turns to look at her. 

"I know you are very close to Kevin, but you know that if something bothers you, you can talk to us too, right? Jay and I are here if you need us" she reminds him and Adam smiles at her, grateful that he has them. But before he can think about whether to talk to her about Kim's pregnancy or not, a voice on the radio draws their attention. 

"Units in the 9th District, units in the citywide, armed robbery in progress at 4200 South Union 4and20 Diner" 

"They are hitting another one?" Adam asks and they rush to the car. 

"Caller states two masked males armed with shotguns. Respond with caution" they continue to listen and leave quickly for the scene. 

When they arrived at the store, they discovered that the shooter had caught up and fled. But quickly Adam, hearing noises, ran towards the road, where he saw the offender trying to steal a car and the driver hitting him, and even pointing a gun at him. By the time Adam managed to calm the driver down, the offender managed to escape in a black SUV. At least they managed to get the driver's statement, named Nick Morella, who agreed to describe the offender to a sketch artist.

"So, we're still running it through the system, but you know, white, 19 to 21," Adam informs the rest of the unit later when they return to the district, showing them the sketch of the offender.