Jackie waited to get up and talk to Olivia when Hank went out later in the afternoon to pick up some dinner for them, and it was just the two of them alone.
"You know, Olivia," she said, "I didn't like you when I met you last night, but after getting to know you a bit, I think I do like you…in fact, I think I really like you. I wish we had somebody back in Chicago like you working in Hank's squad, between you and me I think the bulk of them are a bunch of losers."
Olivia was more than just a little taken aback by that sudden comment, both by the content of it, and the fact that Jackie was suddenly so open towards her, and at first she didn't know how to respond, but finally she said, "I'm sure Voight's people are very good cops."
"Oh they're the best," she said, "In deducting, in tracking down suspects, in saving the day and all that, they're fantastic, but I just don't like them. All the unis are just a bunch of major tools, and then the desk sergeant…"
"Oh, back to the infamous desk sergeant," Olivia said.
"Crazy woman," Jackie said, "9 times out of 10 she's a real bitch, then out of nowhere she'll suddenly turn nice on you for no apparent reason, she's weird. But, she's about the most trustworthy person in the squadron, aside from Voight. The rest of them, I wouldn't even confide in them if my dog died, let alone what happened to me as a kid, or even what's going on now. You know how it is when you have no reason not to trust somebody with something important but you just don't trust them?"
Olivia nodded, "Yeah, I do actually."
Jackie went over to the TV and turned it on and said to Olivia, "I'm sure Voight's told you all about me, and I'd like to deny everything, except it's probably all true."
"He told me you don't trust people," Olivia said.
"And he's right," Jackie answered, "Never have, never had a reason to."
"What about your parents?"
"Let's just say I'm 19 and no longer obligated to live under their roof, for which I am glad, and leave it at that," Jackie said as she went through the channels on TV.
"And…how long have you known Voight?"
"Well over 10 years obviously," Jackie said, "I don't remember actually meeting him, he was just kind of always around, you know?"
"Well he speaks very highly of you," Olivia told her, "It's obvious you mean a lot to him."
Jackie turned around and genuinely looked surprised, "Oh yeah?" She quickly recovered, and trying to be nonchalant, turned back to the TV and said, unconnectedly, "When I was a kid, I thought it was the coolest job in the world to be a cop."
"Because of Hank?" Olivia asked.
"Uh no actually," Jackie turned back towards her and explained, "Because I grew up in the syndicated generation of "21 Jump Street" reruns on TV, I loved that show as a kid…got easy to forget they weren't really teenagers, gave me hope that when I was in high school I'd be able to do something like they did, bust the bad guys, maybe bust a few heads in the process as well. Reality however, always had a pesky way of crashing down on anything you could dream. Voight for example, he's gotten his butt chewed by the higher brass for his…unorthodox tactics, think he's even come close a few times to losing his badge and going to jail. How he still does it every day, especially with everybody thinking he was a dirty cop for a while, is beyond me."
"Sounds like he's getting to be an expert in the field," Olivia said.
"Could be," Jackie turned the TV off, "And when he lies, for his men, or himself, he does it like a rug, he's made it an art form. So I happen to know if anything would go south on this case, he will have your back."
Olivia slowly smiled and nodded in understanding, and told Jackie, "That's always good to know."
Voight returned to the motel just as the sun was starting to shift towards the west, it would be getting dark soon and from there they knew it shouldn't be long before things got interesting.
"So I take it nothing happened while I was gone?" he asked as they divided up the burgers and sodas.
"Oh…" Olivia glanced over towards Jackie, "Not really, nothing too earth shattering…no noise out of our upstairs neighbor."
"He's got nothing but time on his hands," Voight said, "He's experienced, he's versed, he knows what he's doing, probably has it down to an exact art."
"If he leaves his room we'll have to hear him, won't we?" Olivia asked.
"What if he's targeting a woman who's already in the motel?" Jackie asked, "What if it's somebody upstairs in a neighboring room? Are we going to be hearing much of anything until he's actually in action?"
Voight looked to the ceiling and commented, "Walls aren't usually too thick in motels, it's a general rule…we'll just have to keep an ear open for anything."
"How about the floors?" Jackie asked cynically, "How thin are they usually?"
Voight's eyebrows raised as his eyes looked towards the tiles above them and responded, "If it sounds like somebody up there's playing musical chairs with an elephant, then we'll double out, until then, everybody's just staying put."
"I hate this part," Jackie said.
"That's why you wouldn't make a good cop," Voight told her as he took a drink of his cola, "90% of the job is red tape and waiting, it's only the last 10% that makes for good TV."
"Like a tornado," Olivia said.
"And somehow a bunch of overpaid writers in Hollywood manage to stretch that 10% out into 5-year long #1 hour-long shows," Voight noted.
"At least," Jackie replied as she unwrapped her cheeseburger.
Olivia glanced at her watch and was inclined to agree with what the others weren't explicitly saying, it was going to be a long night. After they ate, Jackie turned the TV on but kept it on mute so she could keep her mind occupied while they sat around listening for any activity on the floor above them. Olivia looked out the window and saw it was getting dark, shouldn't be long now, at least if this guy stuck to his established pattern. Every 30 seconds or so she checked her watch again, she never felt her patience tried so much as they were now in this instance. She turned away from the window and saw Voight had his phone out and was pressing the buttons on it.
"What're you doing?" she asked lowly.
Voight glanced up at her and looked like the mischievous schoolboy waiting for the teacher to sit on a brilliantly placed tack, and raised a finger to his lips for her to be quiet. Then he turned to Jackie, who was sprawled on the bed on her stomach, mindlessly glued to a rerun on the TV, and held his phone out and told her, "Hey kid, got somebody here that wants to talk to you."
"Who?" she asked suspiciously as she sat up.
Voight's only form of answer was to hold the phone out so she could grab it.
Skeptically, Jackie took the phone and put it to her ear and said uncertainly, "Hello?", and after a brief pause, Olivia watched the girl's eyes light up and her face visibly soften as she said in an almost relieved tone, "Hey Grandpa…I'm fine…how're you? …how's Roger? …yeah well, I miss you guys too…it's a long story, Grandpa."
Olivia moved towards Voight and murmured to him, "That was nice, Voight…but is now really the time?"
"You know," Voight turned to her and somehow managed to keep a straight face and an almost deadpan express as he said to her nonchalantly, "All of a sudden I can't remember what the outside of this place looks like," he grabbed her by the hand and added, "Let's go take a look."
Olivia followed Voight out the door against her better judgment, and once out there she asked him, "Voight, what's going on?"
"Two things," he answered, "One, Jackie's got some things she has to smooth out with Grandpa before we go back to Chicago, it'll make the reunion slightly less stressful, and two, I think we should see if we can find out what our upstairs neighbor is up to and preferably without her along."
Olivia reached for her gun but Voight stopped her and said, "No, we're going to see if we can bait him out. You go up first and see if you can get him to come out."
"What, that whole drunk and horny act again?" Olivia asked.
"No, just too drunk to remember which room is yours," Voight told her, "Let's see what he does, and if he takes the bait, I'll be waiting for him."
Olivia nodded uncertainly and set to work messing up her hair and disheveling her appearance slightly, then she noisily staggered up the stairs to the second floor and halfheartedly beat on a couple of doors. Raymond Garson's door opened and he stepped out to find out what was going on, and Olivia all but fell against him, laughing like someone who had way too much to drink.
"Hi-i-i-i-i, handsome," she slurred, "I'm tryin' find my room." She put her hands on him and asked, "Will you help me?"
Garson was clearly and totally caught off guard by this sudden turn of events, but not entirely opposed to it. He grabbed hold of the woman who was writhing back and forth in his grip and asked her, "You're staying around here?"
"Oh yeah…" Olivia pointed clear off in another direction and told him, "I've been staying in this lousy motel for weeks, trying to meet a guy, had no luck whatsoever…" she lunged against him and asked him, "You wouldn't happen to know where a girl could go for a good time, would ya?"
He seemed to consider her question, and asked her, "Hey cutie, which room's yours?"
Olivia looked at the row of rooms as if trying to remember, then suddenly recalled, and pointed towards the floor, "Downstairs."
Garson grabbed Olivia's arm and draped it over his shoulders and she was mentally preparing to pull her gun and bust him, but instead was surprised, though she wasn't able to let on, as he walked her over towards the stairs and down them, and over to the front office for the manager to help. Olivia maintained her cover for a couple minutes after Garson disappeared back up the stairs, then stood up and told the manager she could get back to her room just fine.
"He didn't take the bait," Olivia said to Voight as she caught up with him outside their motel room, shaking her head in confusion.
"And I can guess why," Voight said.
"He's got another victim already in mind," Olivia said.
"That's most likely," Voight replied, "The only other alternative would be even drunk out of your mind, you give off too strong a personality for him to think he could dominate you."
Olivia let out a dry, humorless laugh and told him, "That would've come in handy a few years ago when I worked undercover in a prison."
"Let's go back inside and reconnoiter," Voight said, "If he's got another woman already in mind, we gotta be ready for when he makes his move. It's getting close to zero hour."
