it's called a hustle, sweetheart

“Hey, wait, please don’t remove that!” Jazzy sighed out exhaustion as she hurried over to the person taking off one of her flyers that she spent all day putting up.

“This is technically considered private property, so this flyer is in a no-post zone,” Nick explained, handing the flyer back to the woman. “I recommend putting this on the memo board in front of the town hall. We have an assortment of flyers there that people refer to.”

“No- no, we came here for breakfast.” Judy told the other, fingers tapping on the table before she finally drew her attention away from the car and instead focused on her partner. “It’s rare we have the day off together, so I’m not going to think of work and enjoy it. With pancakes. And coffee. No crime, not today. You have my undivided attention.” She commented, eyes flitting to the window once more. “Kind of.”

The redhead couldn’t help but let a chuckle escape his lips at the display before him, knowing very well Judy wouldn’t let it go. And that was okay by him. It was simply in her nature. And in truth, he found it rather adorable. Not that he’d ever admit to thinking that. “Got it,” he replied with a grin. “So what was it, pancakes and coffee right? I’m going to be snatching up those blueberry pancakes myself and nobody is surprised,” Nick chuckled. “Will you kill me if I get some bacon too? I promise I won’t force you to eat it or anything.”

“Not a problem. Anything I can do to help of course. I don’t like to see people like that getting away with things.” Huojin admitted. “And I will let you know if there are any other suspicious characters around.”

“Perfect. I really appreciate your cooperation in all this,” he assured Huojin once more. “You’ve got my number so if anything, just give me a call or even shoot me a text. Want to get a follow up if we catch this guy?”

“If you want those, you just let me know. If you go to another baker, we’re not friends anymore,” Scarlett teased, “Maybe you should take her to the same restaurant. Buy her something nice and give it to her,” She paused, “Or just talk about your highlights as police together.”

nicholas wilde

“I’m going to be one of those people who are still working when they’re eighty, aren’t I?” Judy commented, leg bouncing under the table as she watched someone park in a non-permitted area outside the coffee shop she was sitting in. It was her day off and yet she couldn’t switch off her cop brain. “Granted, it might not be as an officer and more of a neighbourhood watch programme, but it’s still crime based.”

“Oh most definitely,” Nick chuckled. Noticing Judy’s eyes lingering to the car that was currently parking in a spot they shouldn’t have been, he looked back to her. “I won’t tell anyone if you decide you want to give them a ticket even off duty,” he added with a little grin.

“Oh wow, that’s… actually really sweet,” Scarlett said with a smile, “I mean I can make her favorite kinds for her but good call in getting something permanent. If it’s an important date for you guys, maybe you should get something that signifies the event. What did you guys do that day to celebrate?”

“Yeah, of course. I will get this put onto a usb if you give me a few minutes.” Huojin explained, working through the footage to make sure he’d cut it down to the correct part before fetching a USB from his drawer across the other side of the room. Soon it was on the memory stick and he was handing it over to Nick. “Hopefully that’ll help a little.”

“This is perfect, thank you bud,” Nick replied once the USB with the footage was given to him. “If absolutely any other suspicious activity comes up, don’t hesitate to contact me or anybody else on the force. Whether its regarding this guy, or anybody else.”

“Uh…” Harvey felt his pockets and then realized any pen he had would be in his bag, “Yeah, I need one.”

“What were your ideas again?” Scarlett asked, “Also it would help to know what it’s for.”

There were two points that stuck out in Huojin’s head as to when the man came in. As much of a pain as it was, he knew he’d have to look at both points in the videos that had been recording. It was pretty painstaking but if it meant he could help his friends and work colleagues in the area and get an ass off the streets he would do it. He trawled through the images until a loud ‘Hah!’ left him and he pointed out someone on the screen. “That’s him.” He murmured, as he watched the others actions on the screen.

Watching the footage, the second Huojin exclaimed and pointed out the guy, Nick scribbled down the timestamp. “Perfect! Any chance I could get a copy of this part of the footage to bring it back to the station? We’ll need it for evidence.”

“Um… what the hell are you talking about?”

“Uh hi,” Harvey said, looking a little panicked, “My bag was stolen so I guess I’m here to report it. I don’t know how that works but yeah.”

Huojin gave a hum but it was clear he was already flicking through his memories to try and put a time or a day to when he’d seen him. “I mean… I could be wrong but he reminds me of someone I saw… I think it was the other day because I recall thinking it was around lunch time and I really want to close up and go out for a burger from round the corner. I’d not made dinner.” He stated, explaining before moving from around the counter to the entrance of his shop, turning over the sign and locking the door. “We could go in the back and take a look at the cameras if you want.”

Pulling out a notepad, Nick began writing all of this down. He didn’t want to miss a single detail that the other was telling him. “I would really appreciate that,” he said, following the other to the back so they could check the security footage.

“You know that’s a poor photo to be able to tell too much.” Huojin answered, still looking at it for a moment. “I mean I would have kicked his ass if he’d come anywhere near this shop so I can safely say that no, nothing has been taken. As for having seen this man… He looks like someone who was hanging around. Had a visit here and there in the shop but I wouldn’t be able to tell you who he is. If I could remember when he came in, maybe my cameras would give more.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Nick shook his head with a brief chuckle when the other insisted it was a poor photo. “It’s what they gave us. You’d think we’d figure out a way to get better quality security footage, huh?” he added before bringing himself back into the topic. “Well the man left the shop pictured in this photo around 10:48pm yesterday. Was he in your shop the other day as well, or was it sometime before yesterday’s events?”

“Good morning,” Nick greeted the young man as he entered the station, sitting up a little straighter before getting up entirely. “How can I help you today?”

“Some people are seriously rude when we’re just trying to do our job,” he sighed, plopping down into a free seat and looking to Judy. “Like I get they’re stressed out, but getting mad at us is only going to slow us down.”