Frayed Edges

On The Case

Jake had asked very few questions when Mia returned that evening. She was tired and clearly drained from her short interaction with whatever family she had seen that day, and he feared that pressing her for information would only drive her away. She simply stated that she had enjoyed herself and was hoping to see them again soon but she didn't divulge any further details.

Mia was still very much a riddle in Jake's eyes. The things he knew about her were snippets of her past that she allowed him to see.

He didn't mind so much. Of course he wanted to know everything there was to know about the girl he had fallen hopelessly in love with over these last few months, but for once Jake was patient. He didn't mind them taking the long road.

He knew she was smart, resilient, witty and independent and that was all he needed.

The precinct was a buzz when he arrived, even more so than usual. Years of being a cop had given him a sixth sense when it came to these things and the scattering of papers and the raised voices on the end of phones, let him know that something big was coming.

He turned the corner and collided with someone quickly coming the other way, the files in their hand fell to the ground creating a flurry of falling papers around them. Jake quickly tried to gather them muttering a small apology before heading to his desk. His knees had barely buckled in his seat before a frantic looking Amy approached him followed by Rosa with her usual emotionless glare.

"We think we've found them!" she cried ecstatically dumping the pile of files that had been clasped in her arms onto Jake's already crowded desk.

"Who?" he asked with a small yawn. For someone who hadn't had his first sip of coffee yet the precinct was a waking nightmare.

"The kingpin! Or maybe the queenpin..." she smirked clearly amused by her own joke. She nudged her elbow into Rosa's side gently hoping to elicit a response but her cold facade didn't falter.

Jake rose from his seat after an oh so too brief moment of pause and dragged himself to the bullpen's small kitchenette. He topped up a large mug with lukewarm coffee and gulped it down as if it was the elixir of life itself. Amy and Rosa didn't let up, they followed him once more the files now messily gripped between their fingers.

"Guys whatever is going on here today..." he began waving his hand carelessly towards the commotion "is gonna have to wait until I've finished this cup" he felt both their eyes glued to him as he gulped down the last few dregs before placing the mug beside him dramatically. "Now what is so exciting?" he asked, his voice now genuine with intrigue as they returned to his desk.

"There's been a break in the case. We began looking into the old arrest records for anything we might have missed first time around and we found some discrepancies in the arrest statements" Jake's eyes skimmed the reports briefly, his eyes focusing on the large circles of red marker illuminating each new found variation of truth.

"We said that whoever we locked up from the last raid was taking the fall for someone higher up and it seems we were right. There's no way this guy could be responsible for half of these cases, he wasn't in the city for at least three of them!" Amy was almost giddy with excitement as Jake's brows furrowed in intrigue.

"A CI of mine says he can back up the claims" She fanned an array of mug shots detailing each of the wrongly convicted "These guys were pinned as the heads of the organisation but most of them were mid level distributors that took the fall after their boss threatened their families. I remember the trials of some of these guys, no way did they have the connections or the man power to move this much product, they were covering for someone" Jake nodded slowly willing Rosa to continue. He had the same glint in his eye that he always did whenever there was a new lead in play.