Caitlin stirred. She didn't know if it was just because it was that time of the morning or if it was the touch of her bare skin on his, that woke her. Her head was on his muscular check and he had one of his hands on her back. She checked out the time on the alarm clock. It was 5:45 and she knew she had a long day ahead. She slowly and cautiously tried to remove herself from atop of him.
"Stay", he said as he tightened his hold on her.
She closed her eyes and then reopened them. "I can't. I've got to start getting ready. Go back to sleep".
She lifted her head and looked at him. He had a devious smile on his face. God, he was so handsome and he knew just what buttons to push to make himself irresistible!
"Now that I'm awake, I think going back to sleep is the last thing I want to do"!
She lifted herself and kissed him. "You're going to have to hold on to that thought"!
He gently held on to her arm and let his fingers slip all the way down to her last finger as she pulled herself off the bed. He watched her walk naked to the bathroom. Generally, he loved watching how every inch of her body moved, but this time, most of his attention was on her face. He knew it was part of the job, but he hated it.
When Cat came out of the bathroom, all showered and headed for her wardrobe, the bed was empty. She dressed and headed for the day rooms of her apartment. On the kitchen counter, she spotted a piece of paper. She picked it up and read it. "Got called in to work. I want to see you tonight. Let me know! XOXO"!
She sighed as she crumbled the paper in her hand and threw it out in the garbage. She grabbed her Starbucks tumbler and filled it with the freshly pot he had prepared. She opened the fridge and took out an apple. She grabbed her keys, left the apartment and headed down to the car park.
When she walked in to District 21 Police Station, it was buzzing with people and the phones were ringing off the hook. Sergeant Platt, saw her walk in. She put her hand on the receiver.
"They're waiting for you upstairs"!
Caitlin nodded and Trudy winked at her before returning to her phone call. Cat keyed in the code and placed her palm down on the digital security lock and opened the door. She walked up slowly, remembering all the moments of the previous night's arrest. It was important that she didn't leave anything out. The rest of her UC mission would only be mentioned in a confidential DEA report.
Just as things were downstairs, upstairs was in full action and brainstorming.
"Steve Birdwell, left his apartment two days ago after emptying out all his savings. His body was found this morning, one gunshot wound right smack in the middle of the head. Died instantly. Now, there is no sign of the money, but we know he's very often been affiliated with this guy, Lorenzo Vitello", said Antonio as he pointed to the board.
"What do we know about Vitello"? asked Adam.
"Vitello, is messed up in any kind of traffic you can imagine; cars, weapons, even women! He gets the goods and sells it off to the highest bidder".
"OK. Ruzek and Dawson, you two head over to have a chat with Vitello. See if he knows anything about what happened to Birdwell".
Hank looked up and saw Caitlin standing in the middle of the room. He smiled. Instantly, everyone turned their attention and looked at her.
Jay's heart skipped a beat as he saw her. She was wearing a black pair of pants, a red blouse and black high heels. Her makeup was perfect, not too much, but enough to attenuate the bruising on her cheek. She not only looked classy and smart but drop-dead gorgeous! He blushed momentarily out of embarrassment, remembering his comment to her last night. He had beaten himself up over it most of the evening. If he wanted to get her attention, that was definitely not the way he wanted to do it.
Adam passed her and greeted her as he headed for the stairs. Antonio stopped at her side.
"Morning. Everything go all right last night? Halstead swept the apartment as I told him to"?
"Yeah, no worries there".
"You didn't call me last night".
"Antonio, I'm fine. I didn't need to".
"Ok. Look, some of us are going to Molly's tonight for drinks. If you're up to it, you should come with us".
"Sure. I'll think about it". She looked past him at Hank and realized he was waiting for her. "Look, I've got to go, be careful out there"!
Antonio nodded and watched as she walked away.
Caitlin sat in the chair across of her uncle's desk. "Thanks for the groceries. How much do I owe you"?
He leaned in towards her from behind his desk. "You've paid your debt kid, more than you can imagine and not only towards me but towards the entire community"!
She simply nodded and looked down. She had never been good at receiving compliments.
His phone rang and he picked it up. "Voight. Ok, send him up".
He stood and looked at Caitlin. "You ready"?
"I could do this in my sleep, I'm so used to doing it".
Hank walked over to the door and shook hands with a tall, amazingly handsome and built man. "Trevor, good to see you again. Come on in".
As her boss, Chief Advisor Trevor McAllister walked in, Caitlin stood up and they also shook hands.
Hank closed the door and they all sat down.
"Special Agent Voight, on behalf of Director, we want to congratulate you on an amazing job and service rendered to both this city and this country"!
Caitlin nodded.
Trevor turned his attention to Hank. "You can be real proud of her Hank. She is our best agent out on the field"!
"I couldn't be prouder Trevor. Should we get down to it? I've got a delicate case that need's my fullest attention".
"Of, course".
He took out a miniature tape recorded and pressed down on the rec button.
"Special Agent Voight, please explain to me in details your arrest last night".
Caitlin started to walk through the events in a meticulous and detailed manner.
"Who made the arrest"? asked Trevor.
"Detective Jay Halstead".
"Did Detective Halstead, use his law enforcement position to take advantage of you in any way, shape or form"?
She thought back to how he had really taken his time to frisk her. "No, sir. Detective Halstead remained professional and within acceptable boundaries during the arrest".
"Did he frisk you"?
"Yes, in the appropriate way".
"Did he handcuff you or use any other kind of restraints"?
"Yes. Only handcuffs".
"On the ride back, who were you with"?
"Sergeant Hank Voight, here present, Detective Jay Halstead and Detective Antonio Dawson".
"Who was sitting in the back with you"?
"Detective Dawson".
"When was your DEA identity revealed"?
"During the ride back to 21".
Trevor looked at her face and his eyes narrowed.
"Were you physically assaulted in any way, shape or form, once you had revealed your identity"?
Voight looked at Caitlin. Neither one of them was worried as this was customary".
"Yes, I asked Detective Dawson to punch me twice in the face to induce Tyrone Trisk into believing that my undercover alias had been mistreated. In doing so, he would be more keen on cooperating with the Intelligence Unit during his questioning".
Trevor looked at Voight. "Sergeant Voight, can you please confirm that what Special Agent Voight has mentioned so far is in correlation with what happened last night"?
"I confirm her recollection of the facts to be a 100% accurate. Special Agent Voight, remained professional and in complete control of the situation and mission up until Tyrone Trisk was taken away to Cook County".
"Sergeant Voight, one more question. Do you believe that in allowing one of your detectives to physically assault Special Agent Voight, Tyrone Trisk was more cooperative, then if it hadn't been done"?
Voight leaned back in his chair. Now that was a first. In all these years, when he had gotten Cat out of her UC missions and things went down like they had last night, this question had never been asked. What game was he playing? Was it really an official question or was McAllister personally getting involved?
"Your guess is as good as mine and I guess we'll never know. I trust Special Agent Voight and how she handles her missions. Need I remind you that in terms of the Law Enforcement hierarchy, she is higher up than me, so when she tells me jump, I jump. I don't question her orders nor yours for that matter".
Voight and McAllister stared each other down for a couple of seconds. Then McAllister stopped the recording, grabbed his briefcase and opened it. He took out a holster belt, a gun and a badge and handed them to Caitlin.
"Special Agent Voight, you are as of now reinstated. I want your full detailed report by the end of the week. You are now temporarily off assignment until further notice".
He looked at her in a much more softer way. "You know the drill. 8 months is a long time. You are not allowed to go back undercover for a duration of 6 months. Out of these six months, you are granted a month of leave before returning to our Chicago Office and resuming desk activity. You are required undergo psychological assessment and attend 20 hours of therapy. Are any of these instructions unclear to you"?
"No".
"Good, thank you Special Agent Voight for your time today. We'll be in touch".
He turned his attention to Hank. "I'll need to speak to Detectives Halstead and Dawson".
"Of course. Dawson is out on a lead but Halstead is here. I'll get him for you".
"Do you mind if I grab myself a cup of coffee"?
"No, go ahead".
Hank called Halstead in. He had quickly briefed him about what was going to happen and what he was going to be questioned on. Cat staid momentarily in Hank's office leaning on the doorframe keeping an eye on Trevor who was searching the cupboards for a clean mug.
As Jay arrived at her side, she put her hand on his chest. He stopped and looked at her.
Still looking at Trevor but speaking low, she leaned in a bit closer to him.
"When you frisked me, you didn't linger, got it"?
He looked at her and searched her eyes. She lifted one of her eyebrows to make sure he had understood how important it was.
She removed her hand and he watched as it placed itself alongside her leg. He noticed her holster belt, gun and badge. It was a clash of worlds, between the hooker he had arrested last night and the professional agent that might have just saved his ass!
He nodded. She gave Hank a look and nodded in recognition before she left his office. She headed for the kitchen where Trevor was pouring milk in his coffee.
"What the hell was that"?!
He continued turning his spoon in his coffee and didn't look at her. "What are you talking about"?
"You know damn well what I'm talking about Trevor"!
He shrugged still stirring.
"I haven't got the faintest idea what you are implying".
She grabbed the spoon out from between his finger and flung it across the room, making a ruckus as it landed on the floor, making it so that everyone's attention in the office peaked. Al stood, ready to intervene in Cat's behalf but saw Hank place his hand up to stop him. Al sat back down and they all tried to resume their activity all the while trying to listen to the heated conversation in the kitchen.
"Oh, don't give me that crap! Now I may have been off the grid for 8 months, but you'd better pray that your last question is regulatory or else I will report you".
"You wouldn't dare"! said Trevor finally looking up from his cup.
"Try me"! said Cat as she stared him down before walking out of the room.
Trevor slowly returned to Hank's office and looked at him.
"That girl's got attitude and doesn't take crap from anyone as I can see".
Voight smiled at him. "Runs in the family. Couldn't be prouder"!