It was Thursday. No Wednesday. Jay's mind had been buzzing for the last 3 days and his eyelids drooped as he stood in the break room pouring what he counted to be his 3rd cup of coffee that day. His right hand shook as he held the coffee pot and he could feel the vibrations into his shoulder. He opted for no sugar or cream this time around, knowing he's going to need the extra boost of caffeine.
He gingerly walked back to his desk, his eyes casting over to Erin's desk where she sat equally tired. The last 3 days had mostly been spent with the team, only going home to sleep anywhere for 4-5 hours. Only he couldn't find sleep. Not when there was a 4-year-old girl somewhere out there likely crying for her parents. He tried not to toss and turn in bed too much, letting Erin find her bliss behind her eyelids for those few hours, because he knew this case was hard on her too.
He surprisingly woke up to his alarm the next morning and before he could turn it off he felt Erin stir next to him. She draped an arm over his torso and dug her face into his bare back, groaning.
"Well good morning to you too." He chuckled.
"I'm exhausted."
"Me too, but be thankful that we got to hear the alarm this morning. We've been up at 4 every day this week." Just as he turned to cuddle with her, his phone rang with Voight on the other end. "Halstead."
"We've got something, I'll text you the address. 30 minutes." Jay huffed out a breath as he heard the line disconnect, already knowing they were in for a hell of a day.
He didn't fall asleep until the early morning hours and he was barely keeping his burning eyes open. He watched Erin jump out of bed and head towards the bathroom before he slowly sat up in bed. He rubbed his eyes as he walked towards the kitchen, starting on a pot of coffee. His legs felt like Jell-O and he could feel them shaking underneath his weight.
By the time Jay drowned his mug, Erin had joined him, grabbing her own cup. She waited on him to shower quickly before he met her at the door in his signature henley, jeans and boots look. She drove with no complaint from him because it gave him some more time to rest his eyes. Erin watched him through her periphery, quieting down the radio playing in the background, letting him get some much needed sleep.
He woke panicked as he felt the left side of his body being shaken, only to notice Erin's hazel eyes laced with concern staring at him.
"You okay?" She asked softly.
"Yeah, just a little tired. I'll be fine." He reached for his door handle and exited the vehicle, leaving her in the truck for a second before she followed suit.
The scene was cringeworthy. There was blood on some parts of the floor and there was a clump of blonde hair next to the coffee table, no doubt that of their 4-year-old victim. There was rope on the floor covered in blood on some parts. The crime lab had rolled up seconds later, taking pictures and swabbing for fingerprints.
At around 10am, 4 hours later, the Intelligence Unit retreated back to the 21st. The DNA order was rushed and by 11, they were getting the reports back. The hair sadly matched their victim's and a few fingerprints were left behind on the coffee table and door handle. A pair of them matched to Johnny Carmine, a recently released offender who spent the last 15 years of his life behind bars for a number of things including DUIs, domestic violence and assault. Another set of prints matched his brother, Jake Carmine. Jake was younger than Johnny. He was only 22 and the only time he had been arrested was for possession of weed. He got released for ratting out some of his dealers and had been on parole for 12 months. The last known address of the brothers was a small house on the Southside of Chicago.
The team geared up in the garage, with Jay and Erin doing their usual routines of securing each other's vest. Jay let out a yawn, failing to hide it. It didn't go unnoticed by Voight who stood in the doorway. He waited for Jay to clamp his thigh holster into place before he called him over.
"You sure you okay? Seem kinda tired. If you can't go in-"
"I'm fine, Sarge. Just let the adrenaline start pumping." There was no way he was going to let Erin go in without him, not after he saw the blood earlier that morning. He always promised her that he would be her backup, and it didn't matter if he was half-asleep or half-dead, he'd be there for her. Voight watched him walk away towards Erin and watched them converse before Al came up next to him.
"He'll be okay, don't worry about him." Somehow, his soft voice reassured Hank.
The unit rushed into the home, and true to his word, Jay was fine. They checked through the house thoroughly, and there was no evidence that of anyone occupying the house for months, except for the fresh cartons of milk that sat in the fridge. There was also no evidence of their victim being there.
Crushed, the unit returned back to the district.
His body ached and his brain pounded against his skull as he tried to focus on his task at hand but no matter the amount of caffeine he had coursing through his veins, it didn't help. He kept his eyes on his computer, reading through all of the information they had on the Carmine brothers. He rested his head against his fisted hand as he tried to suppress another yawn.
"Hey, kid?" Jay turned his chair around to meet the eyes of a concerned Al sitting at his own desk. "You doing okay?"
"Yeah just tired. I'll just call in an early night tonight at home."
"Just remember, a distracted cop is a dead cop."
Comforting. Jay thought.
His attention was brought back to the front of the room as Adam announced his findings about a small cabin the brothers had on the edge of the city.
Once again the team geared up and loaded into their respective cars, hoping, praying that this would be their last stop during this case.
They stopped their vehicles a block away, giving themselves some space to get everything situated. Jay led with his automatic rifle as he approached the front door with Atwater ready with the battering ram.
"Johnny Carmine, Chicago P.D.!" There was a sound of light movement behind the door before Atwater broke it down. It was dark inside the cabin with some light emanating from the dining room. As the team scoured through the home, they came to a stop with to a closed bedroom door.
Cautiously, Erin opened the door and peered in, her flashlight being her only source of light. She tensed at the sight in front of her, seeing their 4-year-old victim sitting on the floor, with a gun clocked against her temple. It was held by 22 -year-old Jake Carmine as he held her small body in front of his larger one.
"Get outta here, or she takes the bullet!"
"Hey, let's just relax a bit, take some deep breaths. You don't want to do this." Erin replied calmly.
"What have I got to lose? I'm going to jail anyways now."
"We can still make a deal. Tell us where your brother is and we can ask the judge for leniency."
"I'm not a snitch. Find him yourself." At those words, Jake removed the safety off of the gun, making everyone watching the scene unfold squirm.
As the team stayed busy upstairs, they had no idea that Johnny had arrived downstairs and was parking his car in the driveway. When he made his way up to the porch and towards the front door, he noticed wood chips on the ground and the door was left ajar. He made his way through the threshold before he heard the sound of multiple voices mumbling. He took out the pocket knife he had and carefully proceeded towards the steps. He watched from the top step, gaining his surroundings. There were 3 men in the doorway, all with guns, and it sounded like there was a woman in the room talking to his brother. He must've made a sound because one of the men, a blue-green eyed one, turned his head in the direction of the stairs.
"Johnny, drop the knife!" His voice was loud and assertive and he had quick movements. He was already turned towards the stairs with his gun ready, taking small steps towards the suspect. His voice seemed to cause a distraction because there was movement in the room followed with some yelling from his brother. Johnny took that moment to turn on his heels and ran down the stairs, followed by two of the men. He could hear them talking and when he made it back to the front door, he was met with the butt of a gun and fell to the ground. His vision was dazed but he could make out two older faces before the blue-green eyed cop lowered himself down and roughly turned Johnny around to be cuffed by an extremely muscular cop.
Within the next four hours, the girl had been taken to Med and returned to her family while the Carmine brothers spent some time at the 21st. It was when the team was filling in their paperwork that Jay returned towards the break room, eager on getting his 4th cup of coffee. He tried to blink the sleepiness away but his vision still blurred. When he began to feel lightheaded, he put the coffee pot back in it's respective place before placing his mug down on the edge of the countertop.
He didn't remember much, but he remembered seeing himself go down before everything turned black. He was being woken up later, splayed across the small couch in the break room, while Erin's worried eyes looking down at him. As he took in his surroundings, he noticed the rest of the unit was there too.
"What happened?" He managed to muster out.
"I don't know, you tell us. Voight heard something from here and found you on the floor when he came to check it out."
"Fine, huh?" Voight's gruff voice said. "Erin, get him to Med. You two are good for the night." Jay tried to argue but there was a dull ache in the back of his skull that managed to keep his tongue tied. When he sat up, the whole world started to spin and he needed to be carried out by Atwater and Ruzek.
When they got to Med, Choi had told them that his blood sugar dropped too low and that he was dehydrated, likely due to the amount of coffee he had consumed in the last few days. Thanks to his fall, he also sustained a mild concussion. Jay was hooked up to an IV line and was told he was to stay overnight for observation, much to his discomfort. But he didn't argue, all he wanted to do was sleep.
He was taken to a small private room with a couch and a TV but he insisted that Erin go home to get some rest. She refused every time he asked and soon he gave up, succumbing to sleep. Erin watched the rise and fall of his chest and really took him in for the first time that week. He had dark bags under his eyes and his snores could saw logs. She wondered if he slept like this during the week and she was surprised he hadn't woken her up. She placed a gentle kiss on his forehead as she gently ran her fingers through his hair before making her makeshift bed on the couch, falling asleep herself.
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