Chapter 27

"Action," Jay says as they sit in the back of the van, referring to his favorite kind of movie. 

"Drama," Emma says, but before she can ask him the next questions, the prayers from the Mosque are heard loudly and Jay rests his head against the wall. Her attempt to distract him vanishes, and they both know that this case brings back memories to him. 

"Twenty years ago, the neighborhood was all deep-dish. Now it's flatbread and kabobs," he tells her and looks at her. 

He looks tired, Emma thinks, and she gets mad at herself for not being able to find time during the week to check on him. The last few weeks have been difficult for him since Will returned, and he was facing a series of problems that even forced him to break up permanently with Natalie and sleep on Jay's couch. Of course, Jay wouldn't stop blaming himself for all this. 

"Things change," she finally replies. 

"Yeah, I hear you" 

"Welcome, brothers," the voice from the wire is heard, and Emma turns her attention to the case. 

"That's Akeem," she says, and they listen to him carefully. 

"Allahu Akbar," they all say as Akeem finishes his speech, and Emma feels Jay tense next to her, but none of them say anything.

"You good?" Emma asks Kevin as he arrives at their meeting point. 

"Yeah, I'm good. I tried to get Akeem to talk about the bombings. He shut me down," he replies and hugs her. 

"Are you sure the security guard didn't make you?" she asks him again. 

"Jamel just hates Americans on principle. My cover's still good, though," he replies. 

"All right, so stay under. Keep pushing," Voight says after making sure everything's going well. 

"I don't know what we're waiting for. These guys already detonated one bomb. Let's bring Akeem in," Jay suggests and Emma looks at him. It's the first time he speaks since they were in the van. 

"We don't have any evidence that he's involved," she tries to disagree calmly with him. 

"The 'Chicago must burn' manifesto was uploaded from a computer inside that mosque. You ask me, that's proof enough," he replies, avoiding looking at it. 

"Well, if you ask me, it's not. We need solid evidence before we move on Akeem. There are too many eyes on this," Voight says, and then his phone starts vibrating. 

"Another bomb threat. VA hospital" he informs them and then turns to Jay. 

"You and Emma go check it out" 

"Be safe," Kevin tells them, and they leave.

"Jay?" Emma tries to get him to talk when the two of them are back in the car. 

"Not now Emma, please" he just tells her and it's enough to make her stay quiet for the rest of the ride. 

"What do we have?" Emma asks as soon as they arrive at the scene and Jay goes to speak to the witness who called about the possible threat. 

"So far, nothing. Just like the last four bomb scares. My dogs are gonna put in for overtime," the man replies. 

"The witness who called it in said he saw a guy with a beard and a backpack, who looked Middle Easterner. And he got a bad feeling," Jay says as he returns. 

"Great, so we're chasing bad feelings" 

"The joke is our witness is here for cataract surgery. He's legally blind," Jay explains, but before Emma can answer, a loud sound is heard and they fall to the ground.

"Hey, are you okay?" Jay yells at Emma as soon as he manages to get off the floor and goes to help her stabilize herself. He looks at her from top to bottom for possible injuries and after making sure she's okay they head towards Platt, who has just arrived with a team of police officers. 

"Are you guys okay?" the older woman asks them. 

"Yeah, we are good" they confirm and at the same time voices are heard from across the street. 

"I need some help over here," someone shouts and Jay immediately runs over there with Emma following. A man holds a police officer's leg, trying to stop the bleeding. 

"I'm going to get a doctor," Emma tells them, and leaves quickly, leaving Jay alone with that man who turned out to be once in the army.

"Bomb tech Sarah Scott. Sergeant first class retired. Senior NCO. She made it through three tours in Afghanistan for this. Left behind a husband and two daughters," Kim says back at the district, sticking a photo of the victim on the board. 

"Witnesses?" asks Voight. 

"Uh, just the two vets. They both saw the same thing, a bearded man with a backpack. And both said he looked 'Middle Eastern'" Emma answers. 

"What about surveillance video at the VA?" 

"This is all we got," Emma replies, and puts a photo on the board. 

"Cameras are garbage, but this is our suspect walking into the VA" 

"Labs came back on the explosive. Peroxide, acetone. It's highly unstable, but it's still an ISIS fave because... get this... dogs can't smell it. The bomb was on a timer, loaded with 16 nails and ball bearings. Same as the bomb at the recruitment center. Forensics is tracking it," Antonio says as soon as he hangs up. 

"All right, see if anyone in the Mosque is in the trades. You know framing, roofing, that kind of thing" Voight tells him. 

"Here's CTA footage at the time of the bombing. Found a guy that matches our description, a gray hoodie, and a beard. Now that's him exiting the L at Taylor Street. It's a block away from Akeem's Mosque. It was 28 minutes after the blast," Adam informs them. 

"All right, enough is enough. We know that Akeem is involved, so let's go pick him up," Jay insists again, and while Emma is ready to try to change his mind, Voight's voice interrupts her. 

"I agree. Bring him in," he tells them.

Indeed, shortly afterward Akeem is at the station with Antonio and Jay doing the interrogation. 

"Spencer" Voight's voice makes Emma get up from her desk and go to her boss's office. 

"Did you call me boss?" she asks him as she arrives at the door. 

"Yeah, I just wanted to tell you to keep an eye on Halstead. Keep him grounded" 

"Always Sarge," she reassures him and returns to her seat, happy that he trusts her for something like this. 

Later, despite Akeem being released without charges as they did not have enough evidence to link him to the bombs, Kim was able to find better footage with the suspect, whom Kevin identified as a man named Tariq Hassam. But when they managed to find him, he fell off the roof of a building and killed himself.

"I got the phone. Or what's left of it," Kim tells them. 

"All right, get it to OCD. Find out who he called before he jumped," Voight tells her. 

"It confirms he's working with a partner," Jay says confidently. 

"No, it confirms he made a phone call. That's it, that's all we got"