Chapter 18

That same morning, before they could even get to the station, they called them for two bodies found in Grand Park. 

"Where's Voight?" Kevin asks as soon as they gather in the park, but no one knows. 

"Platt said she's going by his house. He didn't pick up his phone," Kim explains, and after a while, they see their boss standing a little further away. 

"What happened to your face, boss?" Adam asks as soon as he sees the bruises. Voight just shakes his hand, pretending it's nothing, and then starts talking. 

"Listen. There is some bad dope out on the street, and we are going to find it. Now, Antonio is going to take the lead. So get on the horn with CFD right away. Get a list of all the ODs the past two days, the exact locations the bodies were found. Track down the 911 tapes, tox tapes..." 

"I got it, Hank. I'm good" Hank is interrupted by Antonio, and everyone looks at each other. 

"Sarge, you want to tell us what's going on? Why aren't you involved?" Jay asks what everyone wanted to know, but no one was asking. 

"The COPA thing. They're still investigating the shooting. Listen, I'm on the bench until it's resolved," he admits. 

"Way to step up, bro," Adam tells Antonio, full of irony. 

"Stay out of this, Adam," Antonio warns him, but Voight stops them before they can fight again. 

"Hey. Enough. Now listen, everything is going to be fine. So stop talking and track down that bad dope" 

"Let's get to work," Antonio tells them, and they return to the district.

Back at the district, they had gotten a whiteboard set up and got to work. 

"Same tox report for all five DOAs. Heroin cut with battery acid" Jay tells them and sticks a photo on the whiteboard. 

"Battery acid? Really?" Kim asks. 

"That means it's intentional. It means somebody's trying to put bodies on the street" Antonio clarifies. 

"Wait, so, is this business, or is this some sicko serial killer out here just trying to kill people with dope instead of bullets?" Kevin asks. 

"Well, all five ODs are on the West Side between Sacramento and California. It's confirmed to one area, which is a good thing" Jay says. 

"What about the crime scenes?" Antonio asks. 

"Detectives found packets at three out of five locations. They all had the same logo: a spider" Kim replies. 

"Yeah, well, maybe we should call Voight and see if he can at least point us in the right direction" Adam suggests. 

"No, we can't. Hank's off the books until COPA's done with the investigation" Antonio denies directly. 

"Right, yeah, I know that, but there are five people dead, and the clock's ticking so..." 

"Voight's not involved, you understand? He's been stripped. It's a violation to even talk to him about any of this"  Antonio says this time even more strictly. 

"All right, talk to Narcotics. See who the shot-callers are and who's supplying the product with a spider logo. All these kids copped somewhere. Hopefully, that somewhere is connected to the same corner" he continues. 

"I think they are. I ran the phones. All five trace back to the same burner. It's got to be the dealer. I pinged it, and it looks like he's doing business on the corner of Sacramento and Fillmore," Emma says as she enters the room, holding an envelope. 

"Okay. Here's what we're going to do," Antonio says and starts explaining the plan.

The plan was to send Jay in undercover as a buyer, then have Burgess and Atwater come in as police officers to distract Andre, the dealer. In the meantime, Adam would have plenty of time to snatch the drugs. Once that happened, they tracked Andre's next phone call to a guy named Jalen and brought him into the station.

"What else do we know about Jalen?" Antonio asks after the interrogation. 

"Um, he's affiliated with the Black Tiger Posse, has two priors, both drug-related," Emma tells him. 

"Okay, so we work this up and down. Burgess, Atwater, start with the kid on the corner. Andre. Wave those homicides under his nose, see if he bites. Show him the victims in case he gets stung. The rest of you work your sources and find Jalen's suppliers. Who sold the product? Who's behind the spider logo? And coordinate with Patrol. I want them to put up fliers so that everyone in the neighborhood knows what's going out there" Antonio orders.

"Put up fliers? Are we sure that's a good idea?" Adam asks. 

"Demand usually goes up when ODs start happening because the junkies think that the dope's super-charge. Put the word out, that might do more harm than good," Adam justifies his hesitation. 

"I get it, but it's better to be transparent. This way the people decide for themselves" Antonio tells him. 

"Right, even if it's gonna kill more people?" 

"Okay, let's go. We're running out of time" Antonio says, ignoring Adam. But when Emma and Jay leave, they hear them talk.

"So, you want to drive?" Jay asks her, showing her the keys. 

"Wow, you're going to let me drive? You are sick or something?" she playfully tells him and sits in the driver's seat. 

"I guess last night you were a very good driver. So you earned it. Besides, I know it sucks not to drive," he replies honestly. He says nothing else but in his eyes, Emma sees the silent thank you for yesterday's events, and she smiles at him.

"No luck, man. We talked to a bunch of low-level dealers. Kids, really, like 16-17. They don't know anything. We did confiscate half an ounce, though" Jay says as soon as they return. 

"Yeah, we struck out too. Adam and I tried to squeeze this guy named Gamble, but he wasn't having it" Emma says. 

"Gamble? Who the hell is he?" Antonio asks confused, with the new information. 

"Word is he controls the spot where the hot loads were being sold. But, as I said, he shut us down pretty quickly" Emma responds. 

"Yeah, he seemed more confused than anything. Like he had no idea the ODs were connected to this dope" Adam adds without paying much attention. 

"How'd you hear about this guy?" Antonio asks. 

"Uh, Adam's CI" 

"Yeah, I've got a source. He knows the area pretty good" Adam says. 

"Is this source on the books?" Antonio asks again. 

"No, not yet" 

"Are you talking to Voight?" he asks furiously. 

"I'm talking to whoever can give us good info..." 

"So you're talking to him?" Antonio yells. 

"We have six people dead. What does it matter who I talk to or where I get my information from? I'm trying to solve this case! This is insane," Adam says, but Antonio is already gone.

"Guys. That was Meredith. She asks us to be the pallbearers tomorrow" Kim says as soon as she hangs up the phone, and everyone's stomachs are tied in knots.

 About an hour later, Jay managed to find a new clue, leading them to Ernesto Varga. But by the time they got to his house, he was dead. 

"How long do you think this will go on?" Emma asks Jay when they hear Adam and Antonio fighting again in the interrogation room. 

"I have no idea. But I hope it's over soon," he replies and sighs. Everybody's tired. Their fight continues in front of the others, but Trudy interrupts them by yelling at them. She informs them about three new bodies, and everyone leaves to investigate.

"Jalen just confessed. He gave up the stash house" Adam says and walks into the bullpen. 

"What? He lawyered up. You weren't even supposed to be talking to him" Antonio yells at him, 

"The address is 3220 Edgemont Road. There's half a kilo sitting there, just waiting to kill another 10, 20, 50 people" Adam continues ignoring him. 

"And he just volunteered this?" 

"Yes" 

"You're lying" 

"Do you want to be right or do you want to save lives. It's your call" Adam tells him, and the older man stays quiet for a while. 

"Let's gear up and hit this place now" he finally says, and everyone obeys.

Just like Adam said, that address, was the place where the bad dope was being made. The most surprising part was that there were three kids, working there. Jay and Kevin got two men out, while Emma followed with the kids, telling them everything was going to be okay. But while they were outside, voices caught her attention, and she turned to her colleagues. 

"Uh, Jay, Kevin? I think we have a problem" She says and they run inside. On the floor is Antonio and Adam hitting each other like tomorrow doesn't exist. Even when they managed to separate them, they struggled to escape to continue fighting. 

"Enough!" Emma's voice makes them stop abruptly, and they look at her. They had never seen her yelling. Not even to the perpetrators. She had a stern tone, yes, something scary maybe when she got angry, but she never raised her voice. Not until today. 

"Al is dead. Our Sergeant is on the bench. Kids were dying a few hours ago, just because someone was stupid enough to cut heroin with battery acid. And you fight like you are little kids, blaming each other. You need to wake up. None of this will bring Alvin back. Nor will they change Antonio's statement. Nor will they save Voight. The world isn't fair, but it is what it is. And like it or not, we have each other. Nothing more. Nothing less. So get serious and start appreciating it before it's too late" she takes a deep breath and continues more calmly this time. 

"In a few hours, we will be holding the coffin of our friend, a member of our family. Do you really want to be mad at each other?" she tells them looking at them. Her words, like a slap, make them look on the floor. Jay looks at her in shock. So is Kim with Kevin. She doesn't wait for an answer, so everyone leaves without talking.

Back at the district, while they were all packing up, Voight walked into the bullpen. 

"Are you back on the job?" Jay asks him. It's the first time anyone's dared to talk since the fight. 

"I got the official call an hour ago," 

"It's good to see you, boss," Kevin tells him. 

"You too" Voight greets everyone and then hugs Antonio. 

"Listen, it has been a very long few days. With a lot of pain. A lot of anger. I get it. I don't expect those emotions to just disappear overnight. But going forward we need to be a team. One team. No more fighting. No more crap" he tells them and goes to his office while everyone looks towards Emma. This time, just as they're used to, she smiles and looks at them. 

"I told you," she says, going to the locker room, leaving them once again shocked.

That afternoon, it was Alvin's funeral, and just as his wife requested, the whole team carried the coffin. Everyone was dressed in their uniforms, while their faces were serious, trying to contain the tears that threatened to roll. Two men in front and two in the back, while Kim and Emma were in the middle. Their hands rise slowly and give one last salute to their friend.