The flight from New York to Chicago took about one hour and forty-nine minutes. During the journey, Mia found herself feeling paranoid, as if everything would just come at her, wrap around her neck and choke her to death. Nothing in her life made sense anymore. Well, nothing made sense to her ever since her mother died years ago. The only person she could ever count on to help her, to protect her, to support her...was her brother. And she needed to find him fast.
"Jay!" Mia hugged her older brother tightly, burying her face into his shoulder.
"I'm really happy you're back, Mia," Jay confessed.
"Well, Chicago's home, I was going to come back at some point."
Jay chuckled, wrapping his strong arm around Mia's slim shoulders, before grabbing her bag with his free hand. He raised an eyebrow at the bag. "That's it? No other bags?"
Mia smiled sheepishly. "Uh yeah, it was a last minute decision to come back."
"Mia?" Jay asked, his voice lowering in pitch. He was concerned. As a Chicago cop, in the Intelligence Unit, he had been taught to watch body language and any sign of hesitation or nervousness on the criminal's part, including the eyes. He hadn't missed the way his younger sister's body had stiffened and how her eyes had immediately averted from his.
"Jay, it's nothing," Mia lied. "I just felt homesick."
Jay decided to let it go for now. "Alright," he conceded, hugging Mia again. "Let's get home."
Mia raised an eyebrow. "You mean, home with your girlfriend, right?"
Jay laughed as the two Halstead walked to his car. "Yeah, I live with her."
"I'm so proud of you, Jay," Mia smiled warmly. "You've come so far. Don't let what happened screw what you have, because even though I haven't met her yet, I know she's special. If my big brother is dating and living with his current girlfriend, she must really be a keeper."
"Trust me, you'll love her and she'll love you."
Mia nodded as she jumped into the passenger seat of Jay's car. He placed her bag in the trunk of his SUV before he hopped into the driver's seat and gunned the engine. There was a comfortable silence, one Mia would have loved to stay in, if it meant forgetting about everything else. But she hadn't seen her brother in ages and she wanted to catch up with him.
"So Intelligence huh?" Mia grinned. "How'd you manage that, brother?"
Jay shook his head, his eyes trained on the road ahead. "Try getting shot in the shoulder," he replied.
Mia's eyes widened in shock. "You're kidding me, right?"
"Nope," he said, popping the 'p'. "It was an undercover op in a gang unit. My only option was to attack before they burned the bar down."
"Wow. Well, as much as I wish I had known, I'm just glad you aren't dead," Mia commented, looking out the window.
Forty minutes later, Mia and Jay reached Erin's and Jay's apartment. Still holding his sister's bag, Jay grabbed the apartment keys from the back pocket of his jeans. He unlocked the front door and ushered Mia in ahead of him. Mia stepped into the well-furnished and neat little apartment, and her eyes landed on a beautiful, slim woman.
"Mia, that's my girlfriend and partner from work, Erin Lindsay," Jay introduced. "Erin, this is my little sister, Mia."
Erin stepped forward, a friendly smile on her face. "It's nice to finally meet you, Mia," she remarked, every word filled with pure honesty. She shook Mia's hand.
Mia smiled back graciously. She was already liking her brother's girlfriend, even though they had just met, and that was saying a lot, considering that in the past, when they had been younger, Mia had always been disapproving of the girls he had been with, including Allie Corson for a while.
"I'm really grateful you offered to let me stay here, Erin," Mia responded back. "I told Jay I would be okay staying at a hotel."
Erin laughed. "Oh please, I could use more of a womanly touch here. Ever since your brother moved in, this apartment has slowly been turning into a man-cave."
Mia laughed as she watched Jay roll his eyes at his girlfriend. "Very funny, Er," he muttered, taking Mia's bag to the guest room.
Erin ushered Mia to the couch. "Want something to drink, Mia? Beer? Coffee?"
"Thanks, Erin. A beer would be nice," Mia agreed.
As Erin headed into the kitchen, Jay returned and sat down beside his sister. Erin returned immediately with three beer bottles, handing one to Mia and one to Jay. She sat in a chair opposite the Halsteads.
Mia brought the bottle to her lips. "So, Erin, you work in Intelligence Unit too?"
"Oh yeah," Erin nodded, sipping her beer. "For a while now. How about you?"
"Until yesterday, I was a cop in the NYPD," Mia replied, sitting back. "I needed a change of scenery and well, I was homesick for Chicago. So I'm back."
"We've worked with detectives from NYPD's Special Victims Unit. We never came across you, though," Erin said.
"I wasn't willing to work in that unit," Mia shrugged, taking another swig of beer. "So I was a normal detective, you never would have come across me."
Erin laughed. "Of course. Well, to be honest, I think it's pretty awesome you were a cop in New York."
Mia smiled. "I'm pretty envious you're a cop in Chicago, Erin!"
"I see you guys are getting along pretty well without me," Jay joked, watching the sudden friendship between his girlfriend and his younger sister evolve.
"Don't be jealous, Halstead," Erin winked. "There's plenty of me to go around."
Mia laughed as Jay raised an eyebrow at Erin. Mia's eyes landed on the clock beside the TV and she leaned forward, placing her beer bottle down on the table in front of her. "I, um, I need to use the bathroom," she admitted.
Erin stood up. "Sure, follow me." Mia got up and followed Erin into the guest room. Just like the rest of the apartment, it was well-furnished and Mia knew at once she would feel at home in no time.
"Right here," Erin pointed at the door. "This is now your room, Mia. Get comfy." She smiled at the younger girl before heading back outside.
Mia grabbed her bag and opened the zipper. She tucked her phone into her back pocket and found her toiletry case. She took it into the bathroom and locked the door behind her. She took in her appearance, and splashed water onto her face, her hands gripping the edges of the sink tightly, her knuckles turning white as she did so.
Calm down, Mia, she berated herself, breathing in deeply. You're not in New York anymore.
She raised her blue eyes into the mirror and steadied herself. You got this.
With a shaky hand, she reached for her toiletry case and took out a tube of cream. She slowly pulled off her blouse, and looked through the mirror at the jagged scar across her slim, smooth stomach. Tears of shame and hurt began to cloud her vision, her breath shaking as she squeezed some of the cream onto her stomach.
Jay was worried. His younger sister was definitely hiding something from him, he just didn't know what it was and how to make her open up to him. He just needed her to trust him, like she had when they were little, and he would find a way to get her to open to him without pressuring her into doing so.
"Jay?" Erin snapped her fingers in front of her boyfriend's face.
"What?" Jay was stunned out of his train of thoughts.
"Did you hear what I said?"
"Umm," Jay scratched his chin sheepishly. "Not exactly."
Erin rolled her eyes, gently shoving his shoulder. "God, Halstead."
"I'm sorry!" Jay apologised. "What were you saying?"
"I was just saying, Mia's been in the bathroom for over fifteen minutes now...Is that normal for her?"
Jay jumped up off the couch. Without answering Erin, he raced into the guest room and approached the bathroom door. Erin appeared right behind him. Judging by the panicked look in Jay's blue eyes and the way he had ignored Erin calling after him, she knew something was wrong.
Jay raised his fisted hand to knock on the door but his hand stopped inches away from the door. He turned to Erin, mouthing, 'hear that?'
Erin nodded, her eyes wide with concern. Jay pressed his ear to the door, and knew he hadn't been hearing things. He turned back to Erin, his eyes looking conflicted, but the pain behind them was evident.
Erin raised a hand and rubbed his chest. "We'll figure it out, Jay," she whispered. "I promise. I will help."
Jay nodded, leaning back against the wall and sliding to the ground. With one knee raised, he placed an arm over it and buried his face into his arm. Erin slid beside him, gently rubbing his arm and placing her head on his shoulder.
They both just sat there, listening to Mia's broken sobs.