Case by Case Love

Chapter 39: Double Homicide Case

Jay opens the lock box, taking out his gun and affixing it to his waist band, followed by taking out his badge. He then attaches the thin silver chain, before pulling it over his head. He then relocks the case, as Erin just looks over with the silliest grin on her face.

"I think you're the only guy on this earth to be glad there's dead bodies out there," she comments with a laugh in watching him get ready for the day ahead. 

Jay had been dreading getting up that morning, knowing it was probably going to be another boring day at the office in trying to keep busy. He almost debated going to the gun range to let off some shots for fun - call it brushing it up on his training as an excuse to get out of the office. 

However, everything changed when his phone rang with a call from Hank Voight. He had told them they caught a case, with the commissioner specially asking for the Intelligence Unit to take the lead. Double homicide, with one of those two being a prominent political figure. He was then given the address that it took place with instructions to head over immediately. It was upon arrival they would be briefed with more details.

"I think you would have gone crazy if we hadn't caught a case," Erin adds, earning a nod of agreement from Jay. She then repeats the same process as he had just done before her in retrieving her gun and badge from her lock box. Unlike him, she clipped the badge on the waistband of her jeans. 

"You would be the same way if someone had kept you out of action waiting for your first case to drop since being cleared to return to duty," he counters, having seen it in the past. He knew how antsy Erin had been to get back at it with them after returning from a short, yet shitty stint with the FBI that wasn't as advertised. He also saw it when she returned back with them after her short break due to a - well, mental break is better wording than detox. "I feel bad for the pair of people that are dead. I sympathize and feel bad for their families and friends. I wish it wasn't a death case that we were handling, but yet instead helping someone get out of a jam or find someone that had simply hurt them. But I am not going to lie and say that I am not excited about receiving that phone call from Hank this morning." 

"We'll see if that excitement is still there once you learn the details at the scene. Prominent political figure means it's someone important, and that means there will be eyes on us from all directions." Jay nods his head, knowing immediately what that meant. He had learned from the several past cases they had encountered. Some of those had wound up with one of them getting in trouble with the Ivory Tower, and having to find a way out of it. One of those threatened the entire existence of the unit.

"It just means that we have to keep Hank in line. Other than that, we're just doing our job. I am not going to apologize or make excuses for that. If they have a problem with that, they already know my response. Besides, the commissioner loves me now and thinks I'm a hero to the city." Erin just rolls her eyes, but couldn't argue with those words the commissioner had said as Jay had done some incredible stuff through his years of service with the city. It made a lot of people wonder as to why he wasn't running his own unit already or had not moved up a rank.

"We both know keeping Hank in line is easier said than done, depending on the circumstances..." Jay nods his head, having been there several times. He had stopped Hank from crossing certain lines, and he had also helped the boss cross others. Their most recent encounter just before he left for Bolivia had turned a lot more uglier than he would have hoped, with several confrontations and arguments over the approach. It had made them question their trust in each other, which was more shocking than anything than compared to what had actually happened. 

"Just so you know, the relationship between Hank and I has changed and grown since you left town. He respects my word and listens to me a lot more than he used to. I am also more on the same page about certain things than I maybe used to be when you and Alvin were calling the shots. I can handle Hank." Erin looks over with a bit of surprise at the comment, curiosity filling her. Why was he saying all this? Why did he feel it was necessary? Would it be something that would come into play? Should she be worried about the dynamics of the unit changing?

"I believ-"

"We are not repeating past mistakes. We are not hiding things from each other or trying to pull fast ones. We are a team, all of us together in Intelligence Unit. We are also a powerful trio - Hank, myself and you - that are stronger if we work together. We need to always be on the same page, together, no matter what happens." Erin slowly nods her head, accepting, knowing she could not probably pass an argument over his head even if she tried. As much as Jay said those words, she also knew how Hank worked and how he could pull fast ones over people even if they didn't think that was the case. She wouldn't put it past Hank to try and do that once again, even if Jay was saying that would not be the situation. However, his words did make her begin to wonder what had all happened while she was in New York.

"Is there something that I missed that I should know?" Jay wanted to blurt out the details, and tell her the whole backstory behind what happened with the shooting of Roy Walton. He wanted to explain how Hailey was backed into the corner she wasn't comfortable with. He wanted to explain how the FBI came after the unit. He wanted to explain how he and Hank were stuck in a web together, and he forced Hank to work with him in covering the tracks. He wanted to explain how he took charge, unable to watch Hailey suffer through the pain of it, and made Hank allow him to call the shots as to the way they got out of it. But none of those words could be said. Nobody could know what happened. He did not need another person brought into the circle, knowing the secret, with a possible chance of it being exposed. Murder was one of those charges that you could be faced with five, 10 or even 15 years past the date of the crime committed.

"Let's just say that Hank trusts my judgement a lot more, and I have more understanding for why he may do some of the things that he does."