Chapter 41

"You know you can drink more often when you're with me, right?" Emma asks Jay when he places their dishes on the coffee table along with two soft drinks. 

"Yeah," he says, though he doesn't sound so sure. 

"Jay, I mean it. I don't have a problem, I never had one. I don't want you to be oppressed and change your habits. Besides, we're still trying for me to get over my fear, right?" 

"That's right and you are doing a great job. But I'm not in the mood right now, but don't worry, if I want to, I'll have a beer, I'm not oppressed babe," he reassures her and rests his hand on the couch, leaving her room to lie on top of him. 

"How's your leg?" he asks her as soon as he sees her winced in pain as she moves. 

"Fine" 

"Yeah..." 

"Jay, we've been through this, it's fine. It hurts a little, but it's not something I can't stand. Besides, as I promised you, if something goes wrong, I'll tell you," she replies and sinks deeper into his arms. 

"I believe you, but I still can't understand how you always end up getting hurt" 

"Look who is talking," 

"Oh, shut up Spencer," 

"You love me Halstead" 

"Yes I do" he answers her and bends over to kiss her, happy to spend the night with his girl.

"Hugo Campus, 17 years old. Moved to Pilsen a year ago with his mother. Clean sheet, no disciplinary issues," Emma informs the rest of the unit a few days later about their new case. 

"Gang affiliation?" 

"Uh, we're not sure. Talked to a few CI's but nobody knew him," Antonio replies this time. 

"All right, who runs the tip where the kid got gunned down?" 

"His name is Derrick Winslow. He calls the shots in that area. He's real slick, low-key, doesn't touch his product at all. His cousin also got lit up last month. Word on the street is a Mexican gang had something to do with it," Kevin says because he knows more as his CI was the one who put him in touch with Hugo. 

"So maybe this was retaliation," Jay assumes. 

"Kevin, you got an idea where to find this shot-caller?" Voight asks. 

"I can put some pressure on my CI" 

"Good. Do it"

Indeed, a short time later they were able to locate Derrick, who told them that the shooter was not one of his own, but that they saw a black van leaving the area. At the same time, Kim and Antonio had gone by Hugo's house, where they were talking to his mother. At his house, they found a box with a kilo of heroin. While Voight was trying to find anything incriminating about Kelton as the election approached and he again called for the investigations against Adam to begin.

"What'd you get?" Kim asks Emma as they gather in the computer room. 

"Uh, the shooting happened at 9:02 a.m. Derrick said his boy saw a black van fleeing..." she begins to respond and shows them the vehicle in the video. 

"Right there. We have surveillance on it until Pilsen and then we lose it" she continues. 

"Looks like two guys inside," Antonio observes. 

"Anything you can run through facial rec?" 

"Nah," 

"I got a hit on a plate though. Car was reported stolen this morning. It's registered to Carlos Martinez. He's got one prior, aggravated battery. Got into a street fight, beat the guy to a pulp" Jay informs them. 

"Address?" 

"Uh, 23rd Street in Pilsen. It's a restaurant. La Casera" he replies. 

"That's where Hugo Campus worked," Kim tells them. 

"Let's hit it," Antonio tells her, leaving Emma and Jay behind. 

"And now the two of us again" he teases her. 

"Yeah," she says without paying much attention to him. 

"Don't be so happy you're with me" he still teases her and pretends to be hurt. 

"Do you think Kelton will be able to destroy Intelligence?" she asks him without a second thought, and Jay understands where her concern comes from. Of course, everyone noticed the change in Voight, Adam, and Antonio's behavior in the last few hours. 

"He will try. But I'm sure Voight will do everything he can to prevent it. I mean, he's not even here, so he's probably preparing something," he tries to calm her down and she nods. 

"Since when are you so optimistic, Halstead?" 

"Ever since some sunshine came into my life," he replies, and her cheeks blush with the nickname Jay uses.

Shortly afterward Kim and Antonio returned from the restaurant and although they learned nothing useful from Carlos, they managed to discover a man who was probably involved in the case and he was seen talking to Carlos outside the store.

"Alex Del Toro. He's a major player in Pilsen. He's got direct connections to Mexican cartels. He's been a source for supply for heroin and coke for years. But he doesn't call attention. He stays off the radar. Narcotics have tried, but they could've put a glove on him. I worked this guy. Let me tell you something, there's nothing about him that's good. Mike Flores. He was my CI. He was a low-level player. Del Toro thought he was stealing products when he killed him, but we couldn't prove it," Antonio informs them. 

 "All right, so what's the connection between Hugo and Del Toro?" 

"The restaurant. I pulled the business license for La Casera. Now Carlos Martinez is the manager. But the owner, that's Alex Del Toro. He owns a bunch of cash businesses. That's how he launders his drug proceeds," Kim replies, and then Jay's voice is heard as soon as he hangs up. 

"That was Todd Harris from Auto Theft Robbery. They got Martinez's stolen van at a chop shop in Pilsen," 

"Okay, Jay, you, me, Kevin, Adam, let's roll on it," Voight tells them, and they're getting ready to leave. 

"Wait," Emma tells Jay, and stops him by holding his hand. 

"Be careful," she says, and Jay smiles at how protective she is. 

"Of course"

The witness at the auto shop, named Fernando Diaz, saw the man who brought the van, so they transported him to the station in the hope of identifying Alex Del Toro. But Fernando identified a random man and not Del Toro. However, something seemed to be wrong as Fernando, just before raising his head to see the suspects, secretly looked at his phone, scared. After more research, they were able to discover that what he was looking at was a picture of his children in Mexico with a man who had a gun in his waistband.

"Fernando Diaz isn't been charged. He's on his way back to Mexico," Jay informs them later that day. 

"All right, what do we know about the kids?" 

"Platt's trying to reach out to the Mexican police. We're doing what we can, but we can't do much," Kim replies. 

"Do you know if Del Toro got to him?"